Teana's Travels Book 26: Hearts, Tones, Smiles
by D.K.N
Summary: Pursuing Xehanort's agents, a DDF force led by Teana and Madoka discovers three 'neighboring' realms, each championed by a team of magical girls called PreCures, who have recently fought off grave threats to their Earths, and now will be dragged into a greater conflict than they'd ever imagined. Can Malia and Ruin be finally stopped here? Rated M for violence and language.
1. New Enemies

So here we have Book 26, the last Book of the Malia Arc, and indeed the last Book before the few-months time-skip to the beginning of the Reaper War. Sorry this took me so long; I had other stuff going on, and I had to watch through the entirety of _Smile PreCure_ before I could finish this chapter. If you haven't yet, I recommend you watch through or at least read detailed plot and character synopses of _HeartCatch_, _Suite_, and _Smile_ before reading this Book.

As a side note, let me say that the promised "new character" mentioned in the last Book has been nixed; I've decided not to add her. For those curious, she was going to be a 15-year-old Diclonius/Saiyan hybrid, daughter of a dimensional-refugee Saiyan mother and a now-deceased Diclonius father. I decided after some thought that I would not add her or her mother in, mostly because it was just a spur-of-the-moment "wouldn't it be cool if…" character without any real depth.

**THE FOLLOWING THINGS ARE THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS; I DO NOT OWN THEM AND MAKE NO MONEY OFF OF THIS STORY**

_Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha _(Teana, various other characters) – 7Arcs

_Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni _(Shion and friends/family) – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen

_Shuffle!_ (Kaede Fuyō and associated characters) – Navel and Asread

_Erika's New Perfume _(Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – DeviantArtist 'Lance the Young'

_Mai-chan's Daily Life _(Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga

_Star Wars _(Ahsoka, Cody, Rex, _Force Unleashed_ cast) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm

_Halo_ (Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie, 343 Industries

_StarCraft_ (multiple characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment

_Naruto_ (characters, techniques, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto

_Mahō Sensei Negima _(characters, spells, abilities) – Ken Akamatsu

_Kingdom Hearts _(characters, weapons, enemies, concepts) – Square-Enix

_Neon Genesis Evangelion _(characters, concepts, tech) – Studio Gainax

_Elfen Lied _(Kaede K., others) – Lynn Okamoto, Arms

_Red vs. Blue _(The Blood-Gulch Crew, the ex-Freelancers) – Rooster Teeth

_My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic_ – Hasbro, Lauren Faust

_Transformers Film Series _– Hasbro, Michael Bay

_Transformers: Beast Wars _– Hasbro, Mainframe Entertainment

_Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon _– Naoko Takeuchi

_Digimon _– Google and Wikipedia won't tell me who presently owns this franchise

_Yu-Gi-Oh! _– Kazuki Takahashi, Viz Media

_Sonic the Hedgehog _– SEGA

_Gears of War _– Epic Games

_Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles _– Columbia Tristar (I think)

_Mass Effect _– Bioware

_Metroid _– Nintendo

_Puella Magi Madoka Magica _– Gen Urobuchi, SHAFT

_The Legend of Zelda _– Nintendo

_Tōhō _– ZUN

_RWBY _– Rooster Teeth

_**Pretty Cure / PreCure**_** – Toei Animation**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**BOOK 26 START**_**-**

**Realm PC-5 – Earth – Japan – Kibōgahana**

**LOCAL DATE: January 15****th**

Tsubomi Hanasaki got out of the family car, carrying some of the supplies for the get-together that her family (minus grandma Kaoruko, who was busy at the botanical garden) and the Kurumi family had planned for today. A blanket of white coated the ground and the trees at this park, where they would spend a couple hours playing in the snow or otherwise enjoying each other's company. Tsubomi let out a content sigh, watching her breath come out in a fog that drifted away into the partly-cloudy sky. She was thus caught off-guard by a tackle-hug from her bestest-best friend, nearly being knocked over; Erika Kurumi was as energetic as ever.

It had been three weeks since they, along with Itsuki Myōdōin and Yuri Tsukikage, defeated the entity known as Dune. On Christmas Eve night, Dune's castle-ship had finally arrived in orbit over Earth. In short order, he'd kidnapped Kaoruko, reclaimed the portion of his power she'd sealed 50 years earlier, wilted the Heart Tree, and used his dark power to turn the entire planet into a massive desert, with all the people reduced to 'Heart Crystals'… except for the four PreCures, and any & all people they had purified in the preceding months; the same magic that returned people transformed into rampaging 'Desertrians' to normal had somehow rendered them immune to Dune's evil power or the effects of the Heart Tree's fall. The four PreCures had led an assault on Dune's castle, fighting their way through the underlings in the way. Though Yuri suffered two emotionally-devastating losses within 20 minutes of each other (the death of a girl who turned out to be her little sister, fighting out of desperation to earn their father's acceptance… which he had already given her beforehand, something she only learned too late, forgiving Yuri and letting go of her anger as she ceased to be; and the death of her aforementioned father, giving his life to save hers and Tsubomi's), she and the other girls rallied against Dune. In the end, Dune was vanquished when the girls and their fairy partners temporarily merged into the mighty Infinity Silhouette.

Dune's death and the power of Infinity Silhouette magically undid the damage, restoring the Earth and all of its people. Everyone the world over – especially in Japan, where all this weirdness was centered – now knew that the mysterious magical warriors, the PreCure, had saved the world. Though thankfully for the girls' privacy, as far as they knew their identities were not known to anyone other than Tsubomi's grandmother – a retired Cure herself – and a pair of kindergartener girls (who were thankfully old enough to understand, in a way, the importance of secret identities).

At the moment, the PreCures' fairy partners were taking a brief break from watching over the still-growing replacement Heart Tree (presently a sapling less than a foot in height) to spend a little time with their human friends; Chypre and Coffret were presently perched atop Tsubomi's and Erika's heads, respectively, acting as plush dolls whenever the girls' family members were looking or in earshot. At the moment, the mated pair of fairies were quietly conversing about a topic that made Tsubomi blush and Erika pout: making fun of the three girls' recent habit of going up to the top of a hill overlooking the city, putting their hands on their hips and an odd expression on their faces as they looked out at the city together, and chorusing "We have done something amazing…"

The first half hour or so of the day at the park was calm and uneventful; Tsubomi and Erika played in the snow, as Tsubomi's mother (who was several months pregnant) and Erika's older sister Momoka watched them, while their fathers and Erika & Momoka's mother relaxed and chatted. However, the tranquility and fun would not last…

As the two 14-year-old heroines hurried over to their families for a snack, conversations stopped and everyone's attention was drawn to the sudden appearance of a black 'puddle' of Darkness about a foot wide that emerged atop the white snow nearby. It slid across the ground, stopping a few meters in front of everyone. As they stared at it, confused, it bulged upward and began to emerge into a proper form. Soon, it was a small black creature, around two feet tall, with two-fingered hands and a pair of long, thin antennae sticking out over glowing yellow eyes. It twitched subtly as it looked up at the humans.

"It's… cute, I think?" Momoka said, unsure.

The little creature locked gazes with Tsubomi, and then suddenly it leapt/lunged at her. She instinctively reached out and caught it, and immediately it began thrashing around, scratching at her arms. She winced from the sudden pain and difficulty, looking at the little beast's face… and watching as a disproportionately-large mouth opened, glowing yellow and rimmed with large triangular black teeth. She screamed and threw it several feet back, and it landed on its feet, its 'mouth' having disappeared into the jet-blackness of its 'face' as it gazed at her and the others. Then, a dozen more little black 'pools' emerged and formed into more of the little creatures, followed by a half-dozen larger Darkness patches that disgorged much taller, muscular, and more humanoid-looking versions of the little ones. The Shadows and Neoshadows were then joined by a pack of Soldiers and Armored Knights, appearing in several wavering 'pops' of Darkness (AN: for lack of a better way to describe the spawn-in effect of Emblem Heartless in the games). The entire pack of nearly three-dozen dark creatures slowly advanced toward the Hanasaki & Kurumi families, their postures and demeanor explicitly hostile. The few other people at the park had already fled, leaving the two families to fend for themselves.

Tsubomi looked back at her mother, belly swollen with the near-complete fetus inside, and knew that she couldn't run away from these things in her current state. She took a deep breath as she realized what she and Erika now had to do. Tsubomi looked over to her dark-blue-haired friend, who nodded with a serious look on her face, and the two of them then looked up to the fairies perched atop their heads, who got the message. Erika looked back at the others.

"Mom… Dad… Momo-née…" she said. "We're sorry."

"For what?" Mr. Hanasaki asked.

"For keeping a really big secret from you all for quite a while now" Tsubomi replied. "Chypret! Coffret!"

The two fairies moved from their positions atop their partners' heads, floating in the air beside them, to the shock of the watching families.

"Ready, Erika?"

"Let's go, Tsubomi!"

The duo pulled out what looked like fancy perfume bottles, which glowed with power, and then shells of pink and light-blue swirling magical light enveloped the two girls; their families stared in awed disbelief, while the Heartless stepped back, surprised by the new development. After a few seconds, the girls' voices were heard echoing out from within the magic 'shells':

"A flower spreading across the land…"

"A flower fluttering in the ocean breeze…"

The shells opened like flower buds and dissipated into motes of light, revealing two of the legendary young heroines of the world.

"Cure Blossom!"

"Cure Marine!"

"_HeartCatch! PreCure!_"

As the girls stood between their families and the Heartless, the former stared, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

"T… Tsubomi and Erika are…" Mrs. Hanasaki murmured.

"…PreCures…" Momoka whispered. "Blossom and Marine… M-My baby sister's one of the PreCures…"

An Armored Knight leapt toward the girls, one blade pulled back and ready to strike, only for Cure Marine to step forward and catch the blade, the magic in her glove preventing it from being cut through; she pulled the Armored Knight forward with that hand, and with the other she landed a crushing punch to the Heartless' midsection that sent it hurtling backward, crashing into a tree which survived the hit, unlike the Heartless which instantly disintegrated into Darkness particles on impact. The other Heartless charged, joined by more spawning in behind them, and Cures Blossom & Marine rushed forward into the fray.

The families watched as Heartless went flying every which way, Blossom & Marine carving through them with little difficulty. Pink and light-blue energy blasts flew as the duo cast Blossom Shower and Marine Shooter, quickly obliterating the little cannon-fodder Shadows and disorienting the larger Armored Knights and Neoshadows. Magically-charged punches and kicks one-shotted their targets more often than not, these foot-soldier Heartless proving to be little more threat than the Desert Apostles' Sunackies had. Unfortunately…

"Aah! Marine! Help!"

…They proved to be a bit _smarter_ than Dune's mooks. Blossom and Marine turned around, back toward the others, to see a Neoshadow gripping Coffret tight in one hand, while pointing a sharp claw-tip of the other hand right at the little fairy's throat. The Neoshadow hissed softly and gestured at its hostage, making the message clearly understood. The two PreCures could do nothing as the other Heartless surrounded them, slowly closing in… Suddenly, the Neoshadow was karate-chopped in the side of the neck from behind, knocking it aside and knocking Coffret out of its grip. Tsubomi/Blossom gasped as her father unexpectedly saved Erika/Marine's partner. She immediately fired a single pink bolt of magic that hit the downed Heartless before it could get up and retaliate, while Cure Marine charged up and released her Marine Dynamite attack, a shockwave of bright-blue magic that blew away the surrounding Heartless, destroying them. Two large flying/floating fat Heartless appeared, one with a red color scheme and carrying a staff with the tip wreathed in fire, the other blue with an ice-tipped staff – a Volcanic Lord and a Blizzard Lord. They launched elemental bursts at the two PreCures, who leapt back out of the way and formed their Blossom Tact and Marine Tact. Within a few seconds, the duo fired their finishers:

"PreCure: Pink Forte Wave!"

"PreCure: Blue Forte Wave!"

Two large blasts of pink and light-blue energy raced out and impacted the Blizzard Lord and the Volcanic Lord, respectively, the magic consuming and destroying them while also purifying the Hearts they'd been constructed around, releasing them to return whence they came. Cure Blossom punched out a lone Armored Knight survivor without turning to face it, and then she & Cure Marine started over back toward their families. Then, however, they were interrupted as one last 'pool' of Darkness formed, this one _much_ larger across. From it slowly emerged a massive monster, easily 60 feet tall, muscular and humanoid in structure, with short legs and curled feet, long arms tipped with sharp claws, and a large heart-shaped hole in its abdomen area; wavering, twisting black tentacles acted like hair on its head, as two large, glowing yellow eyes stared down at the two young heroines.

"It's, uh… a bit bigger than most of the Desertrians were…" Cure Marine remarked as she stared up at the Darkside looming over her.

"Y-Yeah…" Cure Blossom replied a little nervously. "…Not anywhere near as big as Dune's 'Desert Devils', though; we can take it… probably."

The huge Heartless swung one of its claws at the girls, who leapt up to dodge and struck at the Darkside's face with a coordinated double-kick, making it stagger back a step. The Darkside then formed a large swirling sphere of Darkness power in one hand, supporting it by the other hand grabbing and holding the wrist, and then 'threw' it upward; the sphere hung in the sky 100 feet overhead and began disgorging/dropping smaller balls of Darkness that drifted toward the ground and burst like balloons upon landfall; one landed and detonated on Marine, and she cried out as the burst slammed her into the ground so hard she almost bounced. Cure Blossom got her out of the way of another one, and then readied her Tact, preparing to blast the hovering sphere. However, she was forced to stop as the Darkside tried to punch her and Cure Marine, sending out a dark shockwave and causing several Shadows to spawn in around where the fist had made contact.

As Cure Marine dealt with the Shadows, Cure Blossom fired another Forte Wave up at the sphere of Darkness, destroying it and putting an end to the rain of exploding balls of energy. The Darkside tried to smash Blossom with its fist, but she rolled out of the way, leapt onto its arm, ran up it and started striking it in the head; with its other arm it grabbed her and threw her down, only for Marine to catch her. The Darkside formed a glowing point of purplish light in the empty space in the center of the heart-shape hole in its torso, and energy bolts came shooting out from it, curving through the air and flying at the girls, who dodged them or smacked them aside with their Tact weapons. Cure Marine fired a Forte Wave shot at the Darkside, which stumbled back, its form wavering.

"Let's finish this thing off, Blossom!" she shouted.

The duo performed synchronized movements with their Tact wands, their bodies beginning to glow as they launched their combination attack:

"PreCure: Floral Power Fortissimo!-!"

Cures Blossom & Marine seemed to transform into a single heart-shaped mass of alternating pink and light-blue light, careening through the air like a colorful comet straight toward the Darkside. They punched clean through its upper chest, leaving a flashing pink/blue heart-shaped hole as they returned to normal form behind it, in front of their families. A second later, the glowing heart-shaped wound in the Darkside exploded, and the titan toppled over into the snow, leaving a huge imprint and making the ground shake, and dissipating into Darkness particles soon after. At last, the park was quiet again.

Cures Blossom and Marine nervously walked over to their families, unsure of what to expect. The first to make a move was Momoka, who moved forward and pulled Erika/Marine into a very tight hug, holding onto her almost desperately (with Marine having to wiggle upwards a little bit to free her nose so her big sister's fairly ample cleavage didn't suffocate her). The parents followed, coming in close to their daughters.

"My little girl's one of the PreCures…" Mrs. Hanasaki murmured, hugging Tsubomi/Blossom. "My little flower-bud is one of the four heroines who saved the world…"

"It's almost unbelievable" Mr. Kurumi said. "Though… It could help explain the changes and maturing both of them have done in the past several months…"

Tsubomi nodded as she de-transformed, returning to normal form. "We've experienced a lot" she said. "I'm… We're sorry we couldn't tell you…"

"…You okay, Momo-née?" the now de-transformed Erika asked, her voice muffled as Momoka still hadn't let go of her.

"It's hard to think of how my precious little baby sister has been risking her life for almost a year now" Momoka replied, her voice slightly shaky as she imagined what sort of dangers Erika had faced.

The young heroine pouted. "Not a baby anymore…" she murmured.

"You could save _ten_ worlds and you'd still be my precious baby girl" her mother replied. "You being a superhero won't make us not worry about you."

"I've noticed how you've grown up a lot in the past year, Tsubomi" Mr. Hanasaki said. "Now we know why."

"…Let me make a guess" Tsubomi's mother said. "Is Itsuki-chan Cure Sunshine?"

"Yes, she is" Chypret replied. "And Tsukikage Yuri is Cure Moonlight."

"Eh?-!" Momoka was shocked. "Y- Yuri-chan, too?-!"

"For a while she wasn't" Coffret replied. "She lost her PreCure form and her confidence when her fairy partner was killed in action. But opening her heart to Tsubomi and Erika and Itsuki helped her regain her faith and her power."

"Does anyone else know about you girls?" Erika's father asked.

"Well, there are these three little girls," Tsubomi replied, "Rumi and Haruka and [AN: can't find an episode synopsis of Ep. 44 that actually mentions the I've-forgotten name of the little girl who lied and said she knew the PreCure in order to impress those three other kids into being her friends; in this timeline, Tsubomi/Blossom secretly revealed herself to the little girl after the battle by saying something she-as-Tsubomi had said to her earlier]. Also, Grandma knows, too."

"Eh?" Tsubomi's father's eyes widened. "My mother knows about the PreCure?"

"Knows about 'em?" Erika said (now finally free of her sister's hug). "She used to _be_ one!"

"_Huh?-!_" was pretty much the group response.

"Long ago," Coffret said, "Kaoruko-san was Cure Flower. However, you know that evil super bad-guy leader Dune we beat a couple weeks back? Well, 50 years ago he and Cure Flower fought. She managed to boot him away from Earth and seal away a good chunk of his power, but to do so she had to sacrifice her own powers, so she couldn't be Cure Flower anymore."

"On Christmas Eve," Chypret continued, "she got her powers back and helped us fight off two of the bad-guy generals, but then Dune showed up and beat us all and took her power to use to unseal _his_ powers, and then we had to beat him, but this time we took him out for good!"

"We can give a more detailed explanation later" Tsubomi said.

"Hey, uh…" Erika chimed in. "If these… whatever-they-were monsters attacked _us_… what if they're also going after Itsuki and Yuri-san?-!"

"…Uh-oh"

-_Break_-

**Same Time – Myōdōin Dojo/Residence**

Itsuki Myōdōin frowned as she looked out at the sizable force of dark creatures that had trapped her, her brother, their mother, and grandfather against the side of the house. All of the dojo's other members and staff were off today, so there was no-one to help them. She and grandfather had done their best to fight these things off, but they were resilient and – more importantly – numerous; too much for two normal humans, regardless of martial skill, to handle alone. As she pondered what to do, she felt as Potpourri, currently hiding in her shirt, poked her head out and looked up.

"Itsuki…" the young fairy murmured. "I think we need a PreCure for this one. I'm sure your family will understand…"

Itsuki gasped quietly, and then after a few seconds she nodded, realizing there wasn't really any other choice.

"Mother… Brother… Grandfather… I'm sorry. I've been keeping a very big secret from you for a few months now; I'll understand if you're angry or upset… Potpourri!"

"Ready!" the tiny fairy emerged into view, to the surprise of the three onlookers.

She pulled out her transformation item, and she was then enveloped in a flower-bud 'cocoon' of golden-yellow magical energy. After a few seconds…

"A flower bathing in sunlight…"

…the shell burst open, revealing to Itsuki's immediate family one of the four now-famous warriors of justice:

"Cure Sunshine!"

The Heartless rushed en masse at Itsuki/Sunshine, who leapt into their midst and began her attack. The dark creatures quickly began to fall to the PreCure's might, her magically-supercharged speed and strength enabling her to cull their numbers at a high pace. She leapt high and used Sunshine Flash to release a barrage of yellow magic bolts that cut down nearly a third of the enemy's numbers. Upon landing, a pack of Soldiers charged at her, but she cast Sunflower Aegis, forming a large sunflower-shaped magic shield that the rushing Heartless smashed right into, and then launched it forward, sending the Soldiers flying and bowling over several more.

Suddenly, distracted by dealing with a trio of Neoshadows, Cure Sunshine heard something right behind her. She spun, eyes widening in surprise as she saw her grandfather holding onto a shimmer in the air. He focused his _ki_ and jabbed his elbow down into what he was holding onto, and a pained shriek sounded as whatever it was tossed him back; she caught him before he could fall. The air flickered as a large chameleon-like monster appeared, clutching its left wrist as it hissed at the old man.

"A cloaker?" Itsuki/Sunshine said. "And it almost got me…"

"Such is the danger of engaging multiple foes from different directions without support" her grandfather said. "I assume you are accustomed to fighting alongside your three comrades, and thus you neglected to watch your own back because you are so used to having others watching it for you. Is that correct?"

Cure Sunshine looked embarrassed and ashamed. "Yes, grandfather. It will not happen again."

The old man gave a little smile. "Not now that I'm here, it won't."

Itsuki/Sunshine blocked a punch from the Stealth Sneak and countered with a punch of her own that knocked it back and stunned it, while her grandfather caught a charging Soldier and threw it at a Neoshadow, knocking it and the Armored Knight behind it over; a quick energy-bolt cluster shot from Itsuki took them and their surrounding fellows out. Cure Sunshine used another Sunflower Aegis to shove the Stealth Sneak back again, and then a Sunshine Flash to take out what remained of the foot-soldier Heartless. The chameleon Heartless rushed at her once more, but she sent it back with a mighty kick; the monster growled as it staggered, obviously worse for wear.

"Sunshine!" Potpourri shouted. "Finish it!"

Itsuki/Sunshine nodded and formed her magic tambourine. As she rang it a few times, her family saw as each strike conjured floating flowers that remained in the air between her and her target. Then, she held the instrument high as it glowed with golden-yellow magical energy, and as she threw it forward it released:

"PreCure: Gold Forte Burst!"

A solid wave of yellow energy from the tambourine struck the multiple floating flowers, which became the heads of a huge barrage of golden energy projectiles, all racing toward the wounded Stealth Sneak, spreading out to converge from multiple angles. The chameleon Heartless was left stuck spread-limbed to a giant yellow flower of magic, which spun behind it as it rose into the air. The creature's body disintegrated into Darkness particles, the now-purified Heart it had been constructed around soaring up into the sky and disappearing.

"I get it now…"

Cure Sunshine turned to look as her brother and mother came forward, the former looking at her.

"I learned afterward how I'd been turned into a monster, using my fear of the operation… You were the one who purified me and returned me to my normal form, weren't you?"

Itsuki/Sunshine looked down at the ground bashfully. "Um… Y-Yes, that was me."

"It was amazing!" Potpourri chimed in. "That Desertrian had been giving Cure Blossom and Cure Marine trouble at the same time, but Sunshine matched it blow for blow!"

"Well, I had the benefit of knowing the fighting style it was using" Itsuki admitted as she de-transformed.

"My little girl's a hero who helped save the world…" their mother murmured, coming forward to hug Itsuki.

"To be honest," her grandfather chimed in, "I actually had a sneaking suspicion that Itsuki may have been one of the PreCure… It wasn't anything concrete; just a gut feeling born from observation." He gave his granddaughter a proud smile. "I am glad to see I was correct."

"So…" her brother said. "Who are the other three?"

Itsuki debated for a moment whether or not to say. "Tsubomi and Erika, and that older girl Tsukikage Yuri-san" she replied. "They're Blossom, Marine, and Moonlight."

"That would help explain why you started hanging out with those two a lot and bonding more deeply with them after that day" her mother said.

"Moonlight spent some time not being a PreCure 'cause of some bad things that happened to her," Potpourri said, "but Itsuki and the others helped her find her will to fight again."

"…I'm worried" Itsuki said. "If these monsters came here, then…"

-_Break_-

**Same Time**

"PreCure: Silver Forte Wave!"

The bright blast of magical energy hit the Guard Armor dead-on, the attack's progression destroying the large Heartless. With the field cleared of enemies, Yuri de-transformed, and the instant she turned around it was into a hug from her mother, catching her off-guard, though after a few seconds she relaxed.

"I'm sorry, mother…" she said.

"Don't be" the woman replied. "My little girl's a superhero; what's there to be sorry about? …Your father will be so proud…"

Yuri's face fell. "He was."

Her mother looked at her, confused. "…Was?"

"Mother… Father was captured by Dune, and brainwashed into his second-in-command. During the final battle, we managed to free him from Dune's control, but… then Dune took matters into his own hands. He… I-I'm so sorry, mother; father sacrificed his life to take a fatal blast from Dune meant for me and Cure Blossom. He died saving us."

Yuri prepared for her mother to be furious with her for this, closing her eyes and fighting back tears. But after a few seconds, that didn't come; her mother simply held her again, and after a few seconds the woman sobbed as it all hit home, and Yuri joined her. Mother and daughter held each other for a minute, grieving.

"…W-What happened to Dune?" her mother whispered.

"Dead" Yuri replied. "The other PreCures and I combined our powers to destroy him."

The woman nodded, accepting that. "What happens now?" she asked.

"I should probably check on the other Cures," Yuri replied, "see if they've encountered this new enemy as well."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Hanasaki Botanical Garden**

**One Hour Later**

The four Cures and their families had gathered at the botanical gardens to discuss matters; apparently, a small force of the dark creatures had attacked her as well, but Coupe had made short work of them (the four knew full well that, though normally docile and seemingly sluggish, the large and powerful elder fairy could fight with surprising skill and ferocity if the need arose). The Cures, fairies, and Kaoruko had given a more detailed explanation of the battles against Dune and his underlings; Tsukikage Haruna, in particular, learned of the death of her daughter's fairy partner, and that of the second daughter she never knew she had, who had lived a life desperate for a father's approval, fighting Yuri out of a desire to be 'complete', and who'd let go of her anger and hate as she passed on.

"I haven't a clue what these new enemies might represent…" the retired Cure said. "Neither Coupe nor I have ever seen them before."

"Um…" Tsubomi spoke up. "W-When we destroyed some of them, little lights that looked like Hearts floated up into the sky. Maybe… they're like the Desertrians; people's Hearts separated from their bodies and turned into monsters."

"This was a different type of corruption from what the Desert Apostles did to people, though" Yuri replied. "It's something new."

"Yes…" Kaoruko said. "And I have a feeling that this may be the start of something even bigger than them…"

"Well," Mr. Hanasaki said, "at least this time you girls will have family support, for however little that helps."

"Right" Itsuki's brother added. "We'll all help you girls in whatever little way we can."

"Just let us know if there's every anything you need," Mrs. Kurumi said, "even if it's help keeping your secret, keeping an eye out for suspicious activity, or just shoulders to cry on."

"I can't help but feel a storm is coming…" Yuri said. "I just hope we can weather it…"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Realm PC-6 – Earth – Japan – Kanon Town**

**LOCAL DATE: January 15****th**

It had been three weeks since the four now-famous heroines, the Suite PreCures – Melody, Rhythm, Beat, and Muse – saved the world from the daemon known as 'Noise'. Not long after the final battle, the residents of Kanon had learned of how the monster was the sapient incarnation of the collective sorrow of humanity, and had sought to eliminate all emotion and all sound from the world, only to be struck down by the Suite Quartet (with only the Cures and those in the know being informed that what remained of Noise's essence was purified and reincarnated as a friendly, harmless little bird-thing). Also given out was the knowledge that the individuals seen at various points summoning those 'Negatone' monsters had all been under Noise's mind control; Cure Beat was, in fact, one of them until she was freed, and once the others were freed they aided the Cures in the final fights (excluding Falsetto, on whom Noise's grip was so strong that it took Noise's destruction to free him). As a result, if for whatever reason any of the Trio or King Mephisto ever chose to visit Kanon town where people knew their faces, they would be recognized as four of Noise's many victims, rather than willing accomplices, and thus would not be shunned or attacked for doing something they had no control over.

Right now, the quartet – Hibiki Hōjō, Kanade Minamino, Seiren/'Ellen' Kurokawa, and Ako Shirabe – were gathered at the former's large and lavish house, along with Hibiki's parents (her mother still home for the holidays) and Kanade's as well as Kanade's little brother Sōta (though Hibiki suspected he mainly showed up because Ako was here; how Kanade couldn't see that her little brother and the youngest Cure had developing 'interest' in each other was beyond her). They were practicing together in the Hōjō family's music room, working to maintain their ability to work in harmony with each other.

As he watched Hibiki happily playing the piano, her father remembered that day at the concert hall months ago, when she had angrily called him out in front of a sizable crowd, bringing up that one piano recital years ago, when he'd told her that she "hadn't really been playing the music", how that had broken her heart, made her think he saw her as not capable of being a musician, and she had come to _hate_ music as a result. Shocked and deeply guilt-ridden at the misunderstanding that led his little girl – daughter of a composer and a violinist – to despise music, he had desperately explained to her what he'd meant: that day, young Hibiki had not wanted to be playing at that time, but had forced herself to, had taken no joy in playing regardless of how well she did it (and for a third grader, she'd played _extremely _well), going through the motions like a machine. By not enjoying herself and her own music, and not playing for the enjoyment of others, _that_ was how she had 'not truly been playing'. Hibiki had shut down in shock there on the stage, while he'd had to live with the revelation that he had destroyed what could have been a source of great joy to her. And, oh gracious, was his wife _mad_ at him when he explained things to her via vid-chat that night.

By great fortune, however, the revelation of the truth to Hibiki had set her on the path of repairing her faith and enjoyment in music, as well as repairing her (until then strained) relationship with her father. And now here she was, all but radiating joy as she put her heart and soul into the melody she played out along with her friends.

As the girls finished their set, the parents applauded. The mood was then promptly ruined by a significantly loud growl from Hibiki's stomach, to her embarrassment, so everyone headed upstairs and into the kitchen for lunch.

"Ahh, to be young and able to wolf down huge amounts of food without gaining a kilogram…" Maria Hōjō remarked wistfully as she watched her daughter ravenously devour her lunch, with Sōta doing much the same to his own meal nearby; Ako looked a bit put off by the two of them, but really, her meal was almost as big; she was just more polite, slower, and better-table-mannered in eating it.

As everyone finished their meals, however, something strange was noticed: shouts faintly heard from outside. Curious, they got up and headed out the nearby door, to see a few people running off into the distance, as well as a very strange creature right outside on the front lawn. The thing – looking like a vaguely human-shaped white sack with pointed limbs, a large vaguely whale-like head with a black-outlined white symbol on top, and seams that ran up its sides – turned to face them, a mouth 'unzipping' along the front and sides of its head to reveal dark-grey pointed teeth. The thing twitched a few times, and then abruptly lunged at Hibiki, who cursed as she tried to hold it back. The creature hissed, and Hibiki's body stiffened as a glowing light became visible in her chest, slowly emerging toward the being's open mouth. A kick from Ellen knocked the Dusk away, and the light returned to within Hibiki's chest; she gasped for breath, clutching a hand at her chest as she broke out in cold sweat.

"Did… Did that thing just try to eat her soul?-!" Kanade exclaimed.

A pack of more Dusks spawned in, followed by a sizable horde of other Nobodies – Creepers, Dancers, Snipers, a quartet of Dragoons, even a few Berserkers. The unnatural monsters approached, boxing the now-frightened group in against the house.

"Hibiki… Kanade…"

The duo looked down at Hummy, who nodded. The girls sighed as they realized what they'd need to do, and they, Ellen/Seiren, and Ako stepped forward, standing in a row between Hibiki & Kanade's families and the Nobodies.

"What are you girls doing?" Kanade's father asked, worried.

"We… have a secret we've been keeping" Hibiki said. "Sorry… Fairy Tones!"

"Do-Do!" "Re-Re!" "Mi-Mi!" "Fa-Fa!" "So-So!" "La-La!" "Ti-Ti!" "Do-Do!"

The others watched in shock as eight little gem-fairy things floated down from the second floor of the house, hovering in an arc over the four girls' heads. The quartet pulled out four shiny brooches with slots in the top. Glowing light surrounded the girls' bodies in four shimmering energy 'cocoons' of pink, white, light-purple, and yellow. After a few seconds, their voices were heard from within:

"Strumming the wild tune…" "Strumming the graceful tune…" "Strumming the soul's tune…" "Strumming the goddess' tune…"

And then the transformation shells broke away, revealing none other than the four legendary heroes:

"Cure Melody!" "Cure Rhythm!" "Cure Beat!" "Cure Muse!" "_Suite PreCure!-!_"

As the Nobodies took a few steps back from surprise, the onlookers were all but speechless.

"_Nee-chan_… Ako-chan…" Sōta murmured, eyes wide. "T… T-T-They're PreCures…"

"Cure Melody becoming stronger and stronger… and Hibiki rekindling more and more her lost love of music…" her father said. "They were connected…"

"Hibiki & Kanade's harmony power went up with time and practice –nya" Hummy said. "That's also part of it."

"H… Hummy is talking…" Kanade's mother murmured. "She's their magical-girl mascot character, like Luna & Artemis in _Sailor Moon_…"

The Major-Land cat nodded. "It's a big, long story –nya. We'll explain when the fighting's over. For now let's watch them and Seiren and Ako kick butt –nya."

"…Seiren?" Kanade's father asked.

"That's Ellen's real name –nya. She and I have been friends for a long time, but then she got made into one of Noise's brainwashed minions, but then our friendship freed her –nya. It's also a long story."

The Nobodies charged, and the Suite Quartet rushed to meet them. The monsters stood little chance against four experienced and powerful magical girls; a Sparkling Shower from Cure Muse took out a Dragoon and two Snipers, Cure Beat's 'Beat Sonic' took out the rest of the Snipers, Melody and Rhythm double-teamed the Dancers and Dusks, Muse took out one Berserker while Melody handled the other, and so on. All the while, the spectators looked on as the girls made mincemeat out of the strange white creatures.

As the last Creeper fell via Cure Beat stomping on it, a dark vortex suddenly appeared in the air over the street a few dozen meters away. From it dropped a gargantuan entity, at least 60 feet tall; it looked like a huge and highly-evolved version of the initial enemies – a rounded head with that weird symbol for a face, thick and short legs with pointed feet and spikes on its hips, a thin waist, huge diamond-shaped spikes for shoulders and very long arms, and four long blue tentacles extending from a scarf-like structure around its neck. Spotting the four puny humans in its path, the Twilight Thorn made a bizarre sound as its body surged with power.

"W-Whoa…" Hummy stared. "The Negatones were hardly ever that big –nya…"

The Twilight Thorn surged forward, lashing out with a crushing punch that the PreCures leapt to avoid; Melody leapt straight up and struck with a magic-powered kick right to the monster's face. The TT went sailing back from the blow, corkscrewing through the air, only to abruptly stop. It then threw its arms forward, the limbs stretching very far, very rapidly, grabbing the surprised Cure Melody. The rest of the creature's body followed, making for a crushing headbutt that sent Melody flying, to be caught by Cure Rhythm. A Sparkling Shower / Beat Sonic attack from Muse & Beat knocked the Twilight Thorn back while dealing a respectable amount of magical damage. Melody & Rhythm hit it with a synchronized double diving kick, and then leapt back to avoid a swing of its fist.

The Twilight Thorn formed a wavering ball of black and white energy in front of its upper chest, and thorny 'streamers' of white and black energy came spiraling out, trying to coil around or impale the PreCures. The girls leapt and dashed, staying in motion to avoid the sharp tendrils, until Cure Muse hit the TT with a Shining Circle, forcing it to halt its attack. Cure Beat used Beat Barrier to protect Melody & Rhythm from an attempted crushing strike from the Twilight Thorn, and then they blasted it with Passionatto Harmony. The Twilight Thorn made its odd noise again, and leapt high into the air, holding a rapidly-growing sphere of destructive energy over its head, preparing to throw it down at the girls. Cure Muse blasted the center of the sphere with Sparkling Shower, making it detonate with great force. A couple seconds later, the Twilight Thorn landed in the street with a ground-shaking thud, and dazedly struggled up onto its feet, its form wavering.

"Time to finish it –dodo!" the Fairy Tone Dodori said.

The quartet drew their weapons, including Cure Muse pulling out the Belltier-type weapon that her mother & father had recently forged for her, just in case a new villain ever arose in Noise's place.

"Come forth, Tone Rings!"

With their weapons they formed four glowing rings of pink, yellow, green, and orange, and called out as they launched them forward:

"PreCure: Music Rondo!"

"PreCure: Music Rondo!"

"PreCure: Heartful Beat Rock!"

"PreCure: Allegro Halo!"

The four rings hit the Twilight Thorn and expanded to instantaneously encircle and Bind it.

"Three-quarter beat! One, two, three!" A pause, and then… "_Finalé_!"

The quadruple magical explosion consumed the Twilight Thorn, shrouding it in light and smoke. When that had faded, the monster toppled over onto its front, going still and then bursting into 'Black Nothingness' that rapidly faded away. With the monsters all gone, the girls headed back over to the Hōjō & Minamino families, nervous of how they'd react. However, Hibiki/Melody got a nice surprise as her mother all but ran over and hugged her tightly, with her father following a few seconds later. Kanade/Rhythm's mother & father embraced their daughter as well, her dad giving her a proud smile. Ako/Muse fidgeted a little as Sōta stared at her with wonder, and worried about her apparent discomfort (and a little mesmerized) he accidentally said the first thing that popped into his head:

"Y-You look really pretty."

Then he went wide-eyed and bright red and clasped his hands over his mouth, while Ako/Muse blushed and partially turned away, though still looking at him through the corner of her eye, unable to stop a tiny little smile from forming on her face. Watching this, Kanade/Rhythm's eyes widened in realization.

"Wh… T-Those two…"

"You didn't notice?" Hibiki/Melody whispered. "_Really_, Kanade? All this time, and you _didn't notice_?"

"Okay!" Hummy called out. "It's exposition time –nya!"

_-Mini-Break-_

A while later, gathered in the Hōjō house's living room, fairly detailed explanations – from Major Land's history and the awakening of Melody & Rhythm, to the final defeat of Noise – were finally finished. Besides learning of Hibiki & Kanade's developments and adventures, the parents and Sōta got to learn a few surprising facts about the other two Suite PreCures, such as how Ellen/Seiren used to be A) a shapeshifting magical cat, and B) one of Noise's brainwashed/mind-controlled minions, and that Ako was a literal princess.

"The enemies that attacked us today…" Ellen said. "We've never seen anything like them."

"All that time and trouble dealing with Noise," Kanade said, "and now we might have a whole new, different enemy to fight, less than a month after the last big mess?"

"_PreCures? Can you hear me?_"

Everyone turned to the nearby large mirror, which changed to show the face of a blonde-haired woman in regal dress.

"Mama?" Ako asked.

"Aphrodite-sama" Ellen/Seiren bowed.

"_Dori and Tiri contacted me and told me what happened_" the Queen of Major-Land said. "_Are you girls and your families all right?_"

"Yes, Your Majesty, we're okay" Hibiki replied. "…Do you have any idea what in the world those things were?"

"_Not much, unfortunately. I have my court mages and scholars looking into it, and my husband is using an old scrying mirror to look in other Realms for any clues. I do know, however, that the strange white monsters that attacked you were literally soulless – they had no Hearts._"

"That must be why the first one tried to eat Hibiki's Heart!" Kanade exclaimed. "It must've been trying to either get a soul of its own by taking someone else's, or even trying to turn her into another of them!"

"Or maybe both –nya" Hummy added.

"_News!_" a man's voice was suddenly heard shouting from off-'camera' on Aphrodite's side. "_I've found something! Something big!_"

"_What is it, dear?_" Aphrodite asked.

The Earth-side viewers saw as King Mephisto came on-screen beside his wife. "_Those creatures were called Nobodies_" he said to them. "_They are what remains of a person's body, essence, and life-force energy after their Hearts are consumed by Darkness and made into evil creatures called Heartless. And I just found out that, in another Realm 'neighboring' this one, there's __another__ PreCure team, wholly unconnected to ours, who recently got done fighting a threat equal to Noise. They just had to fight off a Heartless attack earlier today. __And__, there's a __third__ PreCure team in another neighboring Realm, and just today they fought a third type of new enemy – creatures called Unversed, the negative emotions of people given form as monsters._"

"You mean, like Noise?" Hibiki asked.

"_Yes, but smaller, much weaker, and less intelligent. Noise could be considered an extremely high-level Unversed, I suppose, far stronger and smarter than 'normal' ones. I'll let you girls know if we find out anything more._"

"_I apologize for all this, girls_" Queen Aphrodite said. "_You're not even fully recovered from fighting Noise, and now there's this new enemy…_"

"It's not your fault, Your Majesty" Hibiki replied. "You couldn't have foreseen this. And none of us are hurt, and my & Kanade's families aren't upset about us being PreCures, either."

"Other than what's to be expected from learning our children have been in mortal peril countless times over the months without us even knowing…" Kanade's mother remarked. "But all the same, we are very proud of them."

"_That's good to hear_" the Queen smiled. "_I know perfectly well the pride __and__ the worry of knowing that one's child is out fighting…_"

"As one set of parents to another," Mr. Hōjō said, "we swear we'll help take care of Ako-chan and Seiren however we can."

"_Thank you…_"

"We should probably let Otokichi-san and Crescendo Tone know about what's happened" Seiren said. "We may need their abilities to deal with this new threat. Let's hope our luck holds out…"

(**AN: **I'm shoving this in here because of things that are happening and have happened with this site when it comes to posting the first chapter of a story. At some point in the past, it started being that when I upload, via the "File Upload" option, and then post the first chapter of a new fic/Book, the stuff before the actual story (author's notes and Disclaimers) and the remarks after are cut out. So I started uploading the first chapter of each new Book via the Copy-N-Paste option. However, recently they changed it so the C-N-P way no longer has/allows **bolding**, _italics_, etc, which can really seriously mess things up just as bad. So, I'm going to have to try uploading this chapter via File Upload and then posting it. If they don't appear, know that there are SUPPOSED to be an Author's Note and a lengthy Disclaimers section at the top of this page before the "_**-Book 26 Start-**_" header, and a short Note at the bottom after the "_**-Chapter End-**_" bit).

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Realm PC-7 – Earth – Japan – Nanairogaoka**

**LOCAL DATE: January 17****th**

It had been only seven days since the defeat of Pierrot, the ancient, extremely powerful (and utterly massive) eldritch abomination who sought to bring about the ultimate 'Bad End', plunging the entire world into Darkness and despair. The five Smile PreCures – Miyuki, Akane, Yayoi, Nao, and Reika – had saved the world, destroying Pierrot and undoing the damage he'd done to the Earth. Unfortunately, however, they'd had to make a great sacrifice to do so: they had lost their PreCure powers, and what's more their fairy partner Candy had had to return to Märchenland, with the connection between the two worlds being lost. The girls had been utterly heartbroken, final victory be damned.

Right now, the quintet was gathered in the park where, seven days ago, they'd been forced to say goodbye to the friend who'd brought them all together. The mood was bittersweet, as they looked around at the beautiful world they'd saved while supporting each other through the almost mourning-like sense of loss. The sky was slightly overcast, diluting the sun's rays.

"Hard to believe it's only been a week…" Nao said.

Akane gave a murmured grunt of acknowledgment as she and Reika nodded.

"I wonder… if Märchenland is doing okay…" Miyuki spoke up. "When he saw those 'Despair Giants', Pop said they'd hit that realm already…"

"The damage was probably undone the same time it was undone for Earth" Yayoi replied. "At least, I hope…"

The girls were huddled together in the cool January air as they sat in the field, taking comfort in each other's presence as they reminisced. The clouds overhead thickened, dimming the light.

"Huh?" Miyuki perked up. "Hey girls, look at that."

She pointed at a trio of little blue creatures in the shade of a tree; they were around two feet in size, though hunched over, with pointed limbs and long, thin horn-like antennae, and two triangular red eyes that looked perpetually angry. Their movements were jerky and twitchy as they looked around, communicating in what sounded like a cross between chirps, sharp whispered breaths, and the soft 'whoosh' a long thin object like a small branch makes when swung through the air. As one, they suddenly turned to look at the girls, noticing them, and began to scurry closer, antennae twitching. The girls got to their feet, feeling wary of the strange creatures.

"Are they… s-some kind of fairy?" Yayoi wondered.

"Something about them feels… _wrong_, somehow" Reika said. "I cannot quite put it in words."

The three Floods drew closer, looking up at the five girls. One's eyes briefly glowed as it stared at Miyuki, and then it drew back and hissed, turning to its fellows and letting out a sharp, quiet chirp. The other two followed its lead in assuming a threatening posture, putting the girls more on-edge. Suddenly, the lead one leapt at Miyuki, who yelped in surprise as she reached her arms out to catch it and hold it back. It wriggled in her grasp, jabbing at her arms with its forelimbs, and then it made eye contact with her, staring intensely, as its eyes flashed red. Miyuki gasped and trembled as she felt her fear of this strange creature, her doubts over the future, her loneliness and missing of Candy, all swelling up… and then being actively sucked out of her, into the little beast she was holding. She gritted her teeth and threw the Flood back, to land on its 'feet' beside its two fellows.

"T-That thing…" Miyuki said. "It was sucking out power from my negative emotions. It was drawing out and absorbing 'bad energy' just like the Bad End Generals did to their victims!"

As the girls processed this little revelation, five more Floods appeared, along with four of a new type of enemy; they were bigger, taller, more muscular and with more defined features, dark-blue with silver hands tipped with large claws, with diamond-shaped heads and two short horns, their all-red eyes looking almost sorrowful in shape.

"This ain't good…" Akane murmured. "These things don't look friendly, and we ain't got our powers anymore…"

One of the Scrappers suddenly charged forward, claws brought back and ready to strike as it went right toward Yayoi. It was intercepted, however, by a roundhouse kick from Nao that knocked it back a respectable distance; after a few seconds it picked itself up off the ground and snarled at its target's rescuer. Then, in reddish bursts of Darkness, a multitude of dark creatures appeared around, behind, and over the already-present foes, varying in size and form – floating jar-like creatures in red, yellow, and blue; vaguely bat-like flying ones with sharp-edged wings; little rabbit-type ones; what looked like giant boots with the heads of the creatures peeking out from within; and two big fat ones, one with an armor plate on its gut, two spiked circular shields on its arms, and a gladiator's helmet. The monsters all advanced on the girls, who quickly realized they wouldn't be able to outrun these things, and without their lost powers they didn't stand a chance of getting out in one piece if these monsters went for the kill.

"Girls…" Miyuki said softly, trembling. "I just wanna say… I love you all…"

"We saved the damn world…" Nao murmured. "We can't go out like this…"

"I ain't goin' down without a fight" Akane said. "Bring it, ya freaks!"

"I've…" Yayoi spoke up "s-seen a few shows where the previous series' heroes get… t-taken out at the start of the next series by the new enemy. Maybe… we'll come back as ghosts to guide the next generation of PreCures…"

"If that is the path set out for us…" Reika replied. "But… even if our journey ends here, these beasts will not find us easy prey! I know not about you four, but like Akane I will fight them to the last breath; I _will not_ simply lie down and die…"

The five former-superheroines readied themselves for what could be their last fight. The Bruiser and the Buckle Bruiser charged, leaping forward toward the girls, who braced themselves. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and motion, and the Bruiser fell to the ground minus its head, vanishing in a burst of Darkness. Simultaneously, several large, bright-blue magical rune-circles appeared stacked atop each other and angled upward, and as the Buckle Bruiser hit they compressed slowing it down… and then abruptly un-compressed, acting as a giant spring to launch the big Unversed clear across the field, crashing to the ground behind the other monsters.

The girls looked in awe at their rescuers. One was a tall old man with a long grey beard, clad in a blue robe and a pointed hat with gold stars and a crescent moon on it. He lowered his outstretched hand, and the blue rune-circles disappeared, as he shot the Unversed an intense glare that actually made some of the closer ones step back. The other rescuer, sheathing the sword with which he'd slain the Bruiser, looked to be around the girls' age, clad in a blue and grey kimono, with brown hair held in a topknot/ponytail, and two small cream-colored animal ears and a fluffy white-tipped orange tail. This latter one the girls immediately recognized, especially as he turned to face them:

"PreCure!" he called out.

"Pop!"

"These dark creatures…" the human-form Fairy said. "They attacked Märchenland. We fought them off, but they… they took Candy!"

The girls gasped in horror.

"Is she all right?-!" Miyuki asked.

"I don't know…" Pop replied. "Anyway, this is Master Yen-Sid. He is a very powerful and skilled mage. He claims to be a member of a large coalition of heroes and armies from various multiple Realms, united against common foes. These beasts are underlings of one of those foes."

"They are called the Unversed" the old man spoke, as he erected a barrier around their little group to prevent the monsters from interrupting. "They are raw negative emotions, given life and form by dark magic. Their masters have their sights set on this world, and on two others that are 'nearby' in a sense. Also, those two other worlds have PreCure teams of their own."

"_Ehh?-!_" the girls 'chorused' in shock.

"Their powers are subtly different in nature from each other's and yours, the neighboring Realms from which their fairy allies came from are different as well, and they had their own mighty enemies to face down, but the basic principles remain: teen girls, acting as transforming warriors of justice, using light and magic to defend their respective Earths from dark and powerful foes. They were both recently attacked by our enemies' forces, but as they kept their powers after defeating their respective 'Big Bads', they were able to fight off the attacks with little effort. However, since you girls had to sacrifice your powers to slay the daemon Pierrot, I chose to intervene personally."

"Are you… going to fight these things off and rescue Candy for us?" Akane asked.

Yen-Sid smiled. "I've got something even better in mind."

He reached into a subspace pocket stored in the sleeve of his robe, and pulled out a familiar artifact: the Royal Clock. Next, in his other hand he summoned a key-shaped weapon, with a guard made to look like two shooting stars, a blue shaft/blade with white stars on it, with a crescent moon and star as the teeth. As the old master readied his Star Seeker, Pop stared in awe.

"That's… a Keyblade" he murmured.

"A what?" Yayoi asked as Yen-Sid began to channel his magic.

"It's a legendary weapon, capable of great power. Some of the details have been obscured with time, but it is said that those strong of Heart can use it to accomplish extraordinary feats. Some wielders are good, and some evil; the evil wielders can extinguish Hearts, blot out stars, spread hatred & despair, and bring whole worlds to ruin, while good wielders can grant miracles, protect the innocent from any threat, mend worlds, and forge unbreakable bonds of friendship and trust between people."

Master Yen-Sid let out a long, slow breath as he held his Keyblade pointed down at the Royal Clock, which now hovered a foot off the ground. A point of blue light formed at the tip of the Keyblade, and he made a key-turning motion. In response, the little 'door' in the center of the Royal Clock's face opened up, and a golden light came out, mingling with the blue light and forming a few magical 'rings' around it and the Keyblade's head. He let out a quiet grunt, putting more focus into the fine manipulation of the large amount of magic contained in the deceptively-small light. After several seconds, he pointed the Star Seeker straight up, and 'fired' the mass of magic into the air. It hung several meters overhead like a star, and then burst downward into five trails of light, which flew down into the hands of the surprised girls below. After a few seconds, the lights faded and solidified into a very familiar device:

"My… Smile Pact…" Miyuki murmured, staring at it with wonder.

"You will need your powers to face what is coming" Yen-Sid said as the girls looked at their new Smile Pacts. "Now, girls, it is time to save your friend."

Miyuki, Akane, Yayoi, Nao, and Reika all looked at each other, and nodded. Then they held the devices aloft, and magic enveloped their bodies. Yen-Sid and Pop stood back and watched the swirling 'cocoons' of pink, red, yellow, green, and blue magical light, feeling the surging power from within.

"Happy!" "Sunny!" "Peace!" "March!" "Beauty!"

"_The five lights that guide toward the future!_"

And in bursts of colorful light, the five legendary warriors emerged once more:

"_Shine! Smile PreCure!-!_"

"Get ready" Pop said, glowering at the Unversed waiting outside. "We're about to drop the barrier."

"For Candy's sake," Cure Happy replied, "we would take on 1,000 times this many!"

Touched by this, yet another example of how these girls cared as much about his baby sister as he did, Pop nodded and then drew his sword. At the count of three, Yen-Sid dropped the barrier, and the Unversed immediately charged, with the PreCures and the human-form fairy rushing to meet them. Unversed fell like dominoes, thoroughly outclassed by the determined, experienced, and angry magical girls attacking them – Axe Flappers were zapped out of the sky by Peace, Beauty's ice turned the Hareraisers into bunny-cicles which were then used as impromptu projectiles to take out the Floods and Red-Hot Chilis, March's whirlwind kicks sent Scrappers and Shoegazers flying, Happy's blasts and blows shot down Yellow Mustards and Blue Sea Salts as well as aiding Pop in finishing off the few Unversed that survived March's attacks, and the Buckle Bruiser, distracted by trying to hit Peace, took a Sunny Fire to the face from above, sending it toppling over dead. Yen-Sid assistance was wholly unneeded, though a Scrapper that tried to rush him got vaporized by a Light-type spell fired from the old man's finger. In less than 60 seconds, the entire pack of Unversed had been destroyed.

"Alright!" Cure Sunny pumped her fist. "We're back in action!"

"Your fairy friend is imprisoned in a pocket dimension" Yen-Sid said. "I will open the way for you."

He pointed his Keyblade at a spot in the center of the field, and Light built up at & around the tip. After a few seconds, a beam of light shot forth, stopping at a point in the air right above the ground, as a shimmering circular portal formed there.

"Go" the old master said. "Pop and I will monitor your progress and keep the portal open from out here."

Without a second's hesitation, the quintet rushed through the portal. On the other side, they found themselves inside a massive dome-shaped area, nearly 300 meters across, and looking to be totally empty; oddly-shaped dark blue tiles made up the ground/floor, and the walls/ceiling looked like more odd-shaped dark-red shapes with a swirling purple 'backdrop' visible behind and between them. And toward the center, floating about 15 feet off the ground, was a spiked cage made of dark-red metal, containing a tiny white fairy with curled blonde hair/ears, sitting with her head down and eyes almost-totally closed. Upon spotting her, the girls' eyes held unshed tears; they thought they'd never get to see her again…

"Candy…" Miyuki/Happy whispered. She gritted her teeth, a few tears finally falling, and cried out. "_CANDYYYYY!-!-!_"

The five Smile PreCures took off running toward the center of the huge area, shouting out to their thought-lost friend. Hearing their voices, the little fairy stirred. Her head rose, and as she looked out and saw them coming, her eyes went wide and began to tear up.

"E… Everyone… Reika! Nao! Yayoi! Akane! _Miyuki!-!_"

The Cures kept running, as fast as they could, drawing closer and closer to Candy…

(BOSS MUSIC: _Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep _– "Unforgettable")

Suddenly, something big dropped in from above, landing between the girls and Candy's cage. The dust quickly cleared to reveal a huge Unversed, with a red and grey body partially clad in red and black armor, long and sharp uneven horns, and two large glowing-red streaks/eyes on its dark-blue 'face'. It let out a deep, rumbling growl as it stood tall, looking down at the little humans before it. It held out its hand, and in a flash of flame a huge hammer appeared in its grip, the head a big red construct wreathed in fire. The monster spun its hammer a few times, leaving trails of flame from the head as it took a stance. To make things worse, it then began to float a few feet off the ground. The girls could feel its powerful and menacing dark aura, as well as the heat that seemed to radiate from it.

'Curse it…' Yen-Sid's voice sounded in the PreCures' heads. 'Be careful, girls! The Form-4 Iron Imprisoner is one of the most powerful and dangerous of all Unversed! Do not underestimate it!'

Candy's cage floated up to the ceiling, out of the way. Cure Sunny made the first attack, sending a Sunny Fire shot right at the Iron Imprisoner's face. It was a direct hit, but the powerful Fire-type Unversed didn't even flinch. Moving faster than something that big should be able to, it lunged forward while swinging its massive flaming hammer down at the Cures. The girls scattered in all directions, barely avoiding the flaming shockwave released on impact with the ground. The Iron Imprisoner immediately struck again, trying for a low horizontal swing into Cure March, who narrowly avoided the hit by jumping up, dodging the blazing hammer by only a meter and feeling the magic imbued in her PreCure outfit protect her from the radiant heat. The instant her feet touched ground again, she noticed the hammer coming down at her, but was able to use her super-speed to flash-step out of the way in time.

"PreCure: Peace Thunder!"

The blast of Lightning magic knocked the Imprisoner back, the electricity making it twitch a little. Upon recovering, it held its hammer low and started floating/flying forward very quickly while spinning its flaming hammer and surrounding itself in swirling flames and scorching wind. Cures Happy and Peace felt a flash of panic as the spinning fiery death headed straight toward them, and Happy picked Peace up and leapt high, sailing over the Imprisoner as it passed below them. The Unversed seemed to 'bounce' off the wall, shooting out at an angle without losing momentum, now heading straight for Cure Beauty. Reika fired off a Beauty Blizzard, but the ice blast failed to overcome the high heat and high rotation of the Iron Imprisoner's attack, forcing her to leap to the side with milliseconds to spare, feeling the heat as the whirling fire passed by. Now it was heading right for Cure Sunny, who smirked; this thing meant to hurt her with her own element? As the Iron Imprisoner drew close, Sunny ignored the heat – which was harmless to a Fire-elemental like her – and leapt back just clear of where she predicted its hammer would go… and the Imprisoner abruptly broke out of its spin, swinging its hammer in a wider range than she expected. Sunny cried out in surprised pain as the hammer hit her head-on, sending her tumbling through the air a good few meters, barely managing to land on her feet. She groaned in pain, thankful that her magic had successfully protected her from serious injury.

"Sucker hits hard…" she murmured. "And it tricked me into makin' a mistake, so it's not just a big dumb brute, either… The old guy wasn't kiddin'; this thing's dangerous."

"PreCure: March Shooter!"

The kicked cannonball of magic and explosively-compressed air slammed into the back of the Iron Imprisoner's head, making it stumble forward. It then turned to face Cure March, snarling at her, as she made a "bring it" gesture. The ground beneath the I.I.4's feet suddenly became a glowing circle of fire, and the monster 'dropped' into it, the fire-circle then vanishing. Everyone looked around, confused, until a few seconds later, Cure March felt heat beneath her boots and noticed a glow she was now standing on. Reacting on instinct, she leapt back & away, and only partially managed to avoid the Iron Imprisoner's rising attack from below, sending her flying. Cure Happy caught her before she could hit the ground, and helped her pat out the smoldering tiny flames on her outfit. Happy then charged up power while the Unversed was distracting trying to play Whack-A-Sunny, pink light gathering in her hands.

"PreCure: Happy Shower!"

The bright-pink beam scored a direct hit on the Imprisoner, which let out a rumbling groan as the Light-magic attack did a not-insignificant amount of magical damage to the Darkness-based entity. The Iron Imprisoner let out a rumbling growl as it seemed to partially curl up while floating off the ground, and the air began to rush toward it, being drawn in. The girls yelped in surprise as they too were pulled closer despite their attempts to resist, involuntarily converging on the Imprisoner as it gathered power. Then, it released in the form of a powerful fiery and concussive explosion centered around itself, sending the girls flying in all directions.

It immediately then vanished with a flash of red light. The entire 'arena' was now tinted red, and the girls had to act fast in getting back on their feet as some of the oddly-shaped things that made up the walls started flying out at them while shrouded in fire, forcing evasive maneuvers. The situation was quickly made worse as jets of fire began to spout up from spots on the floor, trying to catch the PreCures or box them in for the flying shapes. The attacks seemed to be focusing slightly on Cure Happy, who looked a bit panicked as she frantically dodged the multiple attempts to do her serious harm. In another red flash, the room returned to normal with the Type-4 Iron Imprisoner again in the middle. The Unversed began another spinning fire-hammer attack, this time predominantly going after Happy and Peace. However, by focusing on them, it allowed the other Cures to start readying their counterattacks; it came out of its spin, staring down Happy who had just leapt back…

"Beauty Blizzard Arrow!"

A high-velocity arrow of super-dense ice came soaring in, slicing across the right side of the Iron Imprisoner's head and taking out its right 'eye'. The beast roared in pain and rage as it reared back, free hand clutching its face. Then, Cure Sunny, boosted/launched by March, came soaring in and landed a full-power super strength punch to the center of the Imprisoner's chest, sending it staggering back, off-balance.

"Peace Thunder Hurricane!"

The Unversed's body seized and writhed as the massive Lightning-type attack assailed it, leaving it stumbling back, smoke trailing from it.

"Happy Shower…"

It turned around… to see Cure Happy now right in front of it, glaring up at it as she readied an enormous amount of power in her hands.

"…_Shining!-!_"

The tiled ground cracked and cratered beneath her as Miyuki/Happy released a tremendous wave of pink magical energy, on par with a charged Kamehameha or Starlight Breaker, at point-blank range. The Iron Imprisoner was fully engulfed, consumed by the Light-type magic. After a few seconds the attack cut off, and Cure Happy panted for breath, staring at the cloud of smoke right in front of her. The smoke cleared… and she gasped as she saw the Iron Imprisoner still standing there. But then its hammer slipped from its grip, dropping to the ground and disappearing in a burst of flames. Then, slowly, the monster toppled over backward, hitting the floor with a thud, and its body came apart into flames and Darkness, vanishing. Seconds later, the entire area began to shake and rumble, the odd red 'tiles' starting to crack and come apart along with the floor. Candy's cage floated back down and then vanished, freeing the little fairy.

'Everyone, get out of there!' Pop telepathically shouted. 'The pocket realm is unstable and beginning to collapse!'

Cure Happy grabbed Candy by the ear/hair and started running for the portal, soon joined by the others. She threw the fairy forward through the portal first, then she and the other four girls passed through as well. They all emerged back in the field at the park safe and sound, de-transforming and panting for breath, as the portal closed behind them.

"_MIYUKIIIII!-!-!_"

Miyuki was nearly knocked over as Candy tackled her, hugging her as tight as her tiny little arms would allow and bursting into tears. Miyuki hugged her back, her own cheeks soon wet as well.

"I… I t-thought I'd never s-see you agaaaain!-!" the little fairy wailed.

The other four girls joined in a group hug with Candy in the center, emotions being released at the joyous reunion. Pop stood nearby, now back in his normal form. Eventually the group hug came apart, and Miyuki and the girls looked around.

"Where'd the old guy go?" Akane asked.

"He left" Pop replied. "But he told me people from their coalition, the 'Dimensional Defense Force', would be here soon. And he left this for us" he held up what looked like an ordinary set of DVDs. "These will bring us into a pocket realm where time passes faster inside, and they'll show us the recorded history 'footage' of all the Force's members… as well as the two other PreCure teams."

"Eh?-!" Candy's ears/hair sprang up to accentuate her surprise. "_Other_ PreCure teams?-!"

"It's apparently a long story, little sis. For now, let's find a bookcase. Master Yen-Sid was able to reconstruct the pathways connecting to the Mysterious Library for us! Let's go there and look this stuff over, find out what we're up against."

The girls nodded. Candy settled into Miyuki's bag, just like old times, with Pop riding in Nao's backpack, and the seven set out for their destination, wondering what would come next…

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

And that's the long-awaited start of Book 26. A word of warning, though: because I have an ambitious translation project, a book report, and other things to work on, the next chapter might take a while again. Also, if anyone's wondering why the Smile Cures' families weren't involved here, there is a reason which will be revealed next chapter.

Tune in next time.


	2. Differences

This chapter was another one that was emotionally very difficult to write…

For anyone medically-knowledgeable who reads this chapter: Yes, I am aware that in Real Life, bones breaking generally aren't very loud (well, so I've read; are they?). However, for dramatic effect I'm going with the usual pop-culture/Hollywood "Big loud snap/crack" trope even though it is not (as far as I know) realistic.

As you can tell, I'm not a trained medical professional, so if anything else in this chapter is off, or even point-&-laugh-at-me dead wrong, I'm sorry.

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Realm PC-5 – Earth – Japan – Kibōgahana**

**One Day After Chapter 1 – 10:15 AM**

Since yesterday the girls, their fairies, and their families had been on-edge, keeping eyes & ears open for the strange dark creatures. At the moment, the quartet of Tsubomi Hanasaki, Erika Kurumi, Itsuki Myōdōin, and Yuri Tsukikage were gathered at the Hanasaki Botanical Garden, comparing notes on the enemies they'd fought yesterday. They'd been able to puzzle out a few things, such as how the monsters were divided into two main types – shadowy creatures of black & dark-blue and little in the way of other colors or features, without exception menacing in appearance (well, the littlest ones were kinda cute… until they opened their jagged, glowing mouths) and demeanor, and the more colorful, sometimes almost funny-looking ones which all bore the same odd emblem somewhere on their bodies and seemed to release what looked like ethereal hearts when slain. It was almost as if they were two different types of dark creature working together, their only shared features being partially- or wholly-black bodies and glowing yellow eyes.

"Seriously, what was up with that?" Erika K. asked. "So, are they like the Desertrians, how they were people's Hearts separated from their physical essence and turned into monsters? So how come we didn't find the little tiny-people-curled-up-inside gems like we did with the old monsters?"

"When released, the Hearts looked to float up and then fade away" Yuri replied. "Maybe they were returning to where they belong…"

Tsubomi was about to add her theory into the conversation, when suddenly the three fairies' heads perked up and they all looked toward outside.

"What is it?" Itsuki asked them.

"There a big thing of magic coming" Potpourri replied.

"It doesn't feel evil, though" Coffret added. "I don't know what in the worlds it is, but I'm kinda confident it's not an enemy."

Curious, the four girls and three fairies headed outside, in front of the botanical garden's entrance. After a few seconds of still silence, a sizable magic rune-circle, white with a pink outer rim, appeared on the ground. With a flash of light, six figures appeared standing atop it, and as the light faded the locals saw they were five girls and one boy in casual clothes around the age of Tsubomi, Erika, and Itsuki – the boy had shoulder-length grey/silver hair, while among the girls one had shoulder-length light-pink hair in pigtails, one with long purplish-black hair, one with long red hair in a ponytail, one with short blue hair, and one with blonde hair in two big curls. The six newcomers looked around, spotting the quartet and recognizing them from the 'debrief' (in other words: Kyōsuke has all episodes of _HeartCatch_ on DVD, so he & the girls watched the show all the way through a day ago).

"Are you guys connected in any way to those weird monsters that attacked us yesterday?" Erika K. asked the newcomers.

"What kinda monsters?" Kyōko Sakura asked.

In response, Chypret pulled out a piece of paper with a crayon-drawn picture of a Soldier on it, red-and-black emblem clearly displayed.

"You've encountered the Heartless already?" Homura asked.

"Heartless? That's what they're called?" Coffret said. "But… It looked and felt like they were _all_ Heart, and nothing else."

"Yeah, and we also have enemies called 'Nobodies' that are all 'body', but no Heart" Kyōsuke replied. "We didn't name them; we just roll with it."

"Anyway," Madoka stepped forward, "we are part of the Dimensional Defense Force, a collection of people and organizations and civilizations banded together to fight common enemies and share knowledge and trade and such. One of the evil factions we're fighting has its sights set on this world and two neighboring others; we know that this world and those two others all have teams of powerful magical-girls called PreCures."

"Eh?-!" Tsubomi spoke up, shocked. "Two more PreCure teams?-!"

"Yep" Sayaka replied. "There's the four HeartCatch PreCures, the four Suite PreCures, and the five Smile PreCures… as far as we know, anyway."

"So, what now?" Chypret asked.

"We have something that will allow all of you to watch and learn about everything the DDF has been through up to this point," Mami said, "as well as the other two PreCure teams."

"Alright" Itsuki replied. "Just give us time to get the others."

"Others?" Sayaka asked.

"When the Heartless attacked us yesterday," Yuri said, "it was right in front of our families. We had to transform in front of them to protect them. We explained everything afterwards; they're all caught up on things now."

"I see…" Homura replied. "Well, I suppose it can't be helped. We'll wait for you to get everyone together, then."

As they all headed inside the building, Madoka wondered how the other two groups were doing…

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Realm PC-6 – Earth – Japan – Kanon Town**

**One Day After Chapter 1 – 12:05 PM**

The Suite PreCures were at the old concert hall where they frequently hung out. The massive enchanted pipe organ dominated one end of the huge chamber, and the girls (and Hummy & the Fairy Tones) sat on the steps at the foot of the old stage. Things had been quiet since yesterday's encounter with the "Nobodies"; Hibiki & Kanade's families had by now fully accepted the fact that they and their two friends were the famous PreCures, there'd been no other sightings of their mysterious new foe, and King Mephisto & Queen Aphrodite had yet to find any more intel.

"I wonder what the other two PreCure teams are like" Hibiki thought aloud.

"Papa said he's found out that one of them has four members, like us," Ako replied, "and the other has five. He hasn't figured anything else out yet, though."

"Hmm?" Hummy's ears perked up as she looked out toward the exit. "Hey girls, there's something magical coming -nya."

"What is it?" Kanade asked. "More of those 'Nobody' things?"

"I don't know. But it feels like it's bad -nya."

Wary, the girls headed outside, transformation modules at the ready. They then startled as, within seconds, a multitude of little 'whorls' of Darkness appeared in thin air a couple feet off the ground. From them emerged a horde of dark creatures of varying form and size, some with glowing circular yellow eyes and others with angular red eyes; the yellow-eyed ones shared a certain symbol, excepting some which had no symbol and looked more "natural" than the others, while the red-eyed creatures all shared a different symbol.

"The hell are these?" Hibiki said.

"Probably the 'Heartless' and 'Unversed' that the King mentioned" Seiren replied.

Quickly, the four girls transformed. The Heartless and Unversed began their attack, and Cures Melody, Rhythm, Beat, and Muse retuned the favor, the dark-creature cannon fodder beginning to fall at a fairly quick rate. The quartet got a surprise then as, only around half a minute into the fight, a large magic rune-circle, white with an orange tint, appeared in the middle of the area. In a flash of light, four people appeared standing atop it: a blue-eyed, orange-haired girl in a red outfit holding an orange-bladed energy sword; a tall red-eyed blonde in a predominantly-black outfit and carrying a black pole-axe with a large gold gem in the 'head'; a slightly shorter green-eyed blonde in dark-blue jeans, a brown jacket over a green t-shirt, and hefting a large hammer of sorts; and the shortest of the newcomers (though still a little taller than the three older Suite PreCures), with long brown hair, green eyes, wearing a black jacket over a light-grey shirt and dark-grey pants, armored boots, and a rather impressive arm cannon over her right arm.

The dark creatures divided their attention, a sizable amount of them immediately rushing at the new arrivals. In response, the head of the taller blonde's axe flipped upward, and a scythe-blade made of golden magical energy sprang forth. With one quick swing, she bisected a Scrapper that tried to tackle her, and with another she de-winged an Air Pirate that tried to divebomb her. The other three girls flew into motion; the girl with the arm cannon fired blue-tinted purple bolts of energy at the smaller enemies, while the younger blonde used her hammer to tackle the Large Bodies and Bruisers, with the sword-wielding redhead handling the rest. However, the Heartless and Unversed did not ignore the PreCures for long, soon forcing them to stop staring and join in the fight again.

The yellow and bluish bolts of magic of Fate's Photon Lancer and Cure Beat's Beat Sonic helped to clear the skies of flying Unversed & Heartless, while Cure Muse's Shining Circle trapped a sizable pack of Heartless in close proximity so that Marie's Sunburst could wipe them all out in one go. Teana used _Fūton: Shinkūha_ to cut down a trio of Soldiers that tried to drop onto Cure Rhythm from above, while Cure Melody used a magically-empowered diving kick to take out a Neoshadow trying to sneak up on Sarah. A large Dark Portal appeared several meters off the ground, and out of it dropped a large Unversed, its body looking like a giant demonic pumpkin with a wide crooked mouth, two thorny tentacles on either side with pale flower-buds at each end, and four black thorny vines curled into wheels – a Cursed Coach. It opened its mouth wide, and several explosive pumpkin-bombs flew out, forcing Fate and Cure Rhythm to get some distance to dodge. In response, Melody and Rhythm pulled out their Belltier weapons, loaded them with two Fairy Tones each, and split them into two separate pieces, with which they 'drew' fiery hearts of magical energy and launched them at the monster:

"PreCure: Miracle Heart Arpeggio!"

"PreCure: Fantastic Piacere!"

The two heart-shaped blasts of Light and Fire magic raced out, enveloping the Cursed Coach. With a duet shout of "_Finalé_!", the magic 'detonated', consuming the Unversed and destroying it, the blast also taking out a handful of lesser Heartless and Unversed that were too close. Faced with all this firepower and with dwindled numbers, the remaining Heartless and Unversed 'jumped' out, retreating. The two quartets approached each other, meeting in the middle.

"Um… Are you girls one of the other PreCure teams that my father mentioned?" Cure Muse asked.

"No," Teana replied, "but we have people on the way to meet up with them. We're part of the Dimensional Defense Force, a coalition of people, groups, and civilizations from different realms, banded together to fight many different foes, as well as swap knowledge, tech, goods, and other stuff. Those monsters just now were the underlings of one of the enemy factions we're dealing with, and at least three of that faction's higher-up fighters may have their sights set on this world and on the two of the 'other PreCures'."

"It's a really long story" Marie said. "Rather than tell you, we can _show_ you. Get anyone who's in on you four being magical girls, and have them meet up with you & us here; we've got something that'll let you see and hear the histories of the DDF's members up 'til now, as well as of the other two PreCure teams."

"Um… Okay" Hibiki/Melody replied.

"It'll make more sense once we can explain things in more detail" Sarah said.

As Sarah and Teana started talking with the Cures, Marie turned to Fate.

"You think Theta Team's doing okay with the third PreCure team?" she asked.

"I'm sure they're fine" Fate replied. "From what I understand, Master Yen-Sid beat us there, so he's probably already given explanations to that team. *Giggle* I just hope Erika and Mariko aren't fangirling them _too_ hard…"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Realm PC-7b – Mysterious Library – PreCure Secret Base/Clubhouse**

**One Day After Chapter 1 – 2:15 PM**

Upon arriving via dimensional transfer in Nanairogaoka, the seven kids of Theta Team were a bit surprised to discover that not only had Master Yen-Sid helped the Smile PreCures get their powers back, rescue Candy, and then explained to them the basics of the DDF, he'd left them an 'archive-footage' device already, so they knew who Theta Team were upon first meeting them. In addition, the bit from the end of the last world meant that the Smile girls were prepared for Erika and Mariko's inevitable bit of fangirling. After proper introductions, everyone had headed to the Mysterious Library to hammer details out… and to make friends, of course; Timmy and Yayoi had started to bond over sketching & drawing things, Miyuki and Mariko were glad to find cheerful, happiness-seeking cuddle-bugs in each other, and all seven of them took a shine to experienced (a 10-year-old brother, 8-year-old sister, 6-year-old sister, 4-year-old brother, 3-year-old brother, and newborn sister) 'big sis' figure Nao.

Right now, Erika S. was lost in thought, still a little shaken up from what she'd seen happen differently in this timeline from the "canon" one, according to magically-acquired/created 'footage'. It had mostly gone according to 'canon', until the "Three Bad-End Generals' last chances" plotline of Episodes 40 through 44. The fights of "Sunny vs. Wolfrun" and "Peace vs. Akaoni" had gone as canon, but then Ep. 44's events, of Happy vs. Wolfrun", had taken place, even though in canon it took place after "March vs. Majorina" and "Beauty vs. Joker". Then, when March vs. Majorina had happened, there had been some significant changes. First, the Midorikawa parents had both been present starting from toward the end of the search for Hina and Yūta, getting involved literally less than a minute before Nao and her other siblings found the two kids in Majorina's clutches. Thus, Nao's mother & father had been present along with the kids to witness her transformation into Cure March, and her fighting desperately to protect them all. In the ensuing exchange of blows, two more changes took place: Majorina did not yet assume her more powerful younger form, and one of March's blows shattered the bars of the 'cage' holding Hina & Yūta, who had been quickly whisked away to safety by their father.

And then, things had gotten bad…

**-**_**Flashback Start**_**-**

"_MARCH SHOOTER IMPACT!-!-!_"

Cure March's superpowered kick sent the Hyper-Akanbe hurtling hundreds of feet straight up into the air. The greenish glow left her body as she landed back down on the ground, soon falling to one knee, panting from exhaustion. Behind her, her parents and siblings looked on in awe. Several seconds later, the giant apple-themed monster made a ground-shaking landing… on its feet, battered but still intact. March gritted her teeth as she struggled back to her feet.

"I… can't fail here…" Majorina's voice was heard. "This is my last chance… If I lose here, I'm through! I won't let it end like this! Do you hear me, Cure March?-! I don't have the option of losing here! It's all, or _nothing!-!_"

With that, Majorina assumed her stronger form within the Hyper-Akanbe, which turned red and nearly doubled in size. A second later, a barrier of energy 'fencing' sprang up around Nao/March's family, trapping them. Before March could do anything to try to help them, the pumped-up Hyper-Akanbe fired an explosive Bullet Seed barrage at her. She moved to dodge, but realized that they would hit her family if she did, so instead she placed herself in the attack's path, doing her best to deflect them, but in her exhausted and wounded state some of them got through, hitting her hard and knocking her back. She heard her siblings crying out to her, as well as the stomp-stomp-stomp of Majorina's Hyper-Akanbe coming closer.

"The Black Nose…" Majorina's voice was heard. "Been using it for too l**o**ng… I can feel Joker's dark **pow**er starting to infect my mind… I have **t**o… **f**ini**s**h th**is**!"

The monster charged, pulling a feint and trying to circle around March and go for her trapped family. In a burst of speed Nao threw herself into the beast's path, and the monster promptly snatched her up in its massive hands, gripping her tightly so she had no chance of getting free. Due to the increased size of the monster, the only parts of her sticking out from above and below the hands' grip were her head, neck, shoulders, and her lower legs from halfway down the shin down to her feet.

"Gon**na** end this… D**ark E**nergy… for Pierrot-**sa**ma… Ma**ke** you… _**suff**__e__**r**_!"

The Hyper-Akanbe began to squeeze, slowly increasing the pressure. With how much damage she'd taken already, and how exhausted she was, Cure March's outfit's magical protective properties were weakened and nearly worn out, so it wasn't long before the crushing pressure began to overcome it. Nao/March gritted her teeth as it started to hurt, steadily getting worse. She let out pained gasps, trying not to openly cry out as the pressure slowly built.

And then, as the Hyper-Akanbe tightened its grip more, the protective properties of Cure March's magical outfit, stressed to the breaking point by this long and difficult battle, finally failed. The sickening *snap* of a limb breaking sounded out, followed a split-second later by Nao/March letting out a loud and long scream of agonizing pain. Her family cried out in horror, some of them already crying from the sights and sounds of her suffering right in front of them while they were completely helpless to stop it. The Hyper-Akanbe kept squeezing, and Nao/March let out another scream that abruptly became much louder as two more bones gave way. Her ankles and feet, hanging/sticking out the bottom of the monster's grip, were visibly trembling and twitching as the horrible pain coursed through her body, and with another snap one of them went limp.

It was like a living nightmare for Nao's parents and siblings, one that seemed to be lasting forever. Seeing Nao/March hanging there, twitching and shaking in pain, being very slowly squeezed to death, tears streaming down her face, while hearing the failing of bones & joints along with her horrible, ear-piercing, heart-chilling screams… Keita was desperately trying to shield little Kōta's eyes, to not let him see, feeling sick to his stomach from the hellish spectacle before him; Hina and Yūta were forcing themselves to watch, remembering how this had all happened because they went out to get apples without telling Nao, and now trying to 'punish' themselves for it, until their mother Tomoko, who was all but coming apart emotionally herself, forced them to stop, holding them close to her and desperately trying to cover their eyes; Haru was sobbing her heart out, clutching onto their father Genji as hard as she could. Every time Nao screamed, the children flinched and trembled as if physically struck, crying harder.

Several of Nao's ribs had broken by this point, a few jagged edges poking at her lungs, threatening to puncture them. To her, it felt like every bone between her neck and her ankles was broken, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. She could almost hear her own racing heartbeat in her ears; it sounded irregular. Her body went limp as her consciousness started getting 'fuzzy', threatening to black out from the horrible pain.

"**N**ow… En**d t**hi**s**,** on**ce and f**or** a-"

There was a burst of movement and a flash of flame, and the Hyper-Akanbe stumbled back, its hands – still clenched around Nao/March – severed at the wrists by the sword of flame wielded by a very, very angry Cure Sunny. Less than a second later, a large combined blast of pink light and yellow lightning slammed into the monster, blasting it back. A figure in blue leapt in, landing beside Nao/March who was still clasped between the severed giant hands now on the ground, whimpering and making pitiful gasps for breath. Cure Beauty trembled, feeling tears come to her eyes, and then turned and glared at the Hyper-Akanbe with an openly murderous look on her face.

The Majorina-Akanbe fired another Bullet Seed barrage, but Cure Sunny rushed forward while surrounded in an inferno of Fire-based magical energy that burnt the projectiles to ashes before they could even reach her. Her eyes glowed red and her body drew in power as she charged in closer.

"Sunny… Fire…"

With a war-cry, she leapt forward like a blazing comet, right into the Hyper-Akanbe's mouth. The monster clutched at its 'throat', trying to pull her out.

"_BURNING EXPLOSION!-!-!_"

True to the name, a brilliant and devastatingly powerful explosion of flames, almost white-hot, erupted from within the Hyper-Akanbe, blowing it to bits from the inside. From amidst the roiling flames and smoke, Cure Sunny leapt high and out, landing in front of her friends, her crimson glow fading out as she gasped for breath, clutching at a few surface burns along her limbs. The barrier imprisoning Nao's family came undone, and immediately they all rushed toward their fallen member, screaming out her name, as the giant hands gripping her dissolved away; she cried out in pain as she dropped a foot or two to the ground, her transformation coming undone.

"Don't touch her!" Genji Midorikawa shouted out as a few of the kids and the other Cures drew near to Nao, fearing that any physical contact in the wrong place could send a fresh wave of agony through her broken body, or even cause more damage. He stopped and knelt beside her, his heart breaking at the sight; her limbs were twisted and swollen and bruised, and her shirt had come partially open to reveal her stomach and chest in the same state; her face was streaked with tears, contorted in a grimace of pain as she let out wheezes and whimpers, the very act of breathing causing her pain. With extreme care, he very slowly lifted her head up into his lap, and after a few seconds her eyes opened as she looked up at him.

"Pa…pa…?" she whispered out. "A… Are you a… all okay?"

Genji almost burst into tears right there; even after everything she'd just been subjected to, she still worried about everyone else's welfare first. "Yes, sweetie" he said softly. "We're fine. It's… It's gonna be okay, Nao. We're all here."

The rest of Nao's family and the other four Cures gathered round, the latter group in shock. Candy hopped down from atop Cure Happy's head and down to beside Nao, tears in her eyes as she let out tiny squeaks like trying and failing to sob, not quite able to believe the horrible sight in front of her. Suddenly, there was a faint groan from within the settling smoke and dust, catching everyone's attention. They all stared as young-form Majorina, burnt and beaten, staggered out, barely on her feet from the looks of it. But then, everyone got a nasty shock as, from out of nowhere, a purplish beam of energy around a foot thick blasted a hole through Majorina's chest from behind. When it faded, they all got the sickening sight of the inside of her upper torso, a hole burned neatly through it, as she coughed out blood and then toppled forward, dead by the time her face hit the ground. They all then heard a new sound: subdued laughter, a tenor voice chuckling.

(MUSIC: _Naruto Shippūden OST Vol. 2_ – "Hidan")

"As I told the other two… Pierrot-sama and I have no use for failures."

Everyone looked up and out past where Majorina had been, to see a man floating in a relaxed position a few meters above the ground, his hand outstretched toward where Majorina had been standing. He looked like a sort of harlequin – purple hair topped by a red, yellow, & blue jester's hat, a purple feather-like mantle on his shoulders with a red belt, a plain white suit with red-rimmed purple legs from mid-thigh down, black pointy shoes, pointed ears, and a white mask with black eye-holes covering the top half of his face. He held a few purple and gold playing cards in his free hand. And despite his almost-goofy appearance, Nao's family somehow sensed/felt that his 'presence' or 'aura', for lack of better words, was positively _terrifying_.

"Greetings, PreCures" he said with a fanged grin. "How unexpected to see you on this fine day, hm?"

"Joker…" Cure Beauty growled, as she and the other Cures took stances.

"Who… What the hell are you?" Keita asked.

Joker chuckled. "I, my dear boy, am the loyal right-hand man to the illustrious Lord Pierrot, he who shall bring about the ultimate Bad End to this world."

"W-Why did you… kill your own…?" Cure Happy was still shocked.

"Why? Well, because she failed the last chance that Pierrot-sama and I gave her, of course! Oh, come now, children, don't look so surprised. After all…" His eyes flashed red as his slasher's grin grew. "I did the same to Akaoni and Wolfrun after their recent losses to Cures Peace and Happy."

The Cures gasped in shock and horror at this casual admission.

"Yes," Joker continued, as he slowly drifted down to the ground, "I told all three of them before their respective battles that this would be their last chance to atone for their previous failures. Why, today I even gave Majorina a little help, augmented her aggression and implanted a few ideas in her head, but even that wasn't enough. Well, I suppose I _could_ have just influenced her to snap Cure March's neck nice and quick, but…" his eyes flashed red again "then I wouldn't have gotten to hear her _scream_…" he licked his lips at that last part.

"You twisted monster…" Cure Peace breathed out.

"Oh, I haven't even gotten _started_ yet! Say… did any of those three wastes of dark energy ever tell you lot just _how_ they came to be in Pierrot-sama's service? No? Well… The fairies of Märchenland all correspond, on some level, to fairy-tale characters. Those three, as fairies, were confined to the role of the 'bad guys', and the other fairies feared and shunned and hated them for it. They were left so consumed by their pain, their sorrow, their desire for a better life, that Pierrot-sama's voice reached them. He and I offered them a way to stop the pain, to become strong enough to _make_ it stop, and desperate as they were they agreed to it. So, I poured Pierrot-sama's power into their bodies and into their minds, reshaping both to serve our purposes.

"You brainwashed them…" Cure Peace said with dawning horror. "You… took three innocent fairies when they were at their weakest, and turned them into reprogrammed slaves…"

"Well, kiddo, if you want to put it _that_ way, then… yes! A shame they couldn't live up to what we set them out to do, though they were at least useful in harvesting Bad Energy to further Pierrot-sama's revival. …Ahhh! I know! There might just be a way to still make use of them after all!"

He reached his hand out and pointed it at Majorina's corpse, which broke down into motes of green light and flowed through the air, forming a glowing point of 'dark light' hovering over Joker's opened palm. With a flick of a wrist, two more appeared – one blue, one red. He grinned maliciously.

"Pierrot-sama and I will make them usable again…" he said. "We shall revive them… and_ torture_ them for their failures, until their minds are broken and degraded into mindless, bloodthirsty savage beasts, living only to crush and destroy in Pierrot-sama's name! Their screams will be _beautiful_! And then… _then_ I'll make them fight you girls to the death! They won't win, of course, not against you girls, but it should buy me a little more time to get more important things done. Ahh, I can't _wait_ to see the looks on your faces when I have forced you to have innocent blood on your hands! I think I'll wait until Cure March has recovered, though; I want to make sure _all five_ of you suffer that guilt and horror of being forced to become murderers!"

He threw his hands high and his head back, a big fanged grin on his face.

"And then! Once all is done, and I have gathered the last of the Bad Energy we need, Pierrot-sama shall be revived! The Earth shall meet its 'Worst End'! He and I shall conduct a chorus, of seven billion voices screaming in terror and despair! An eternal, beautiful _symphony_!-! Heeheeheee! _Wondrous!_"

"He's…" Genji murmured. "He's pure evil…"

After a few seconds, Joker turned his gaze back down to the group. With his psychotic grin focused on them, his eyes flashed bright red. Instantly everyone present cried out in surprised pain, a suffocating 'presence' combined with a brief magical stimulation of body-wide pain receptors making them all tremble and groan; Nao cried out, her already-battered body flaring up in pain again, while Tomoko felt movement in her lower body, her unborn Yui reacting to the evil stimulus as well. As soon as it had started, the effect cut off after only a couple seconds, leaving only echoes and memory.

"Do try to stay alive until the time is right, PreCures…" he said. He vanished, instantly reappearing right next to Cure Peace, using her head as an armrest.

"Rest up, recover…"

He vanished again, reappearing right behind the kneeling Genji, his head peeking over the man's shoulder.

"Tend to your wounded and sort things out…"

He vanished again as the man flinched away from where he'd been.

"And prepare yourselves for what's coming…" He was softly patting Hina & Yūta on the heads, vanishing just as they flipped out and clung to each other.

"For I am so looking forward to fighting you…" He hovered upside-down right behind Cure Happy, running a fingertip along her ankle before vanishing again, making her jump. He reappeared kneeling low right next to Nao, his face right next to hers.

"And I am looking forward to seeing your _despair_ and _pain_…"

His unnaturally-long tongue licked up the drying tears from one of Nao's cheeks (her skin briefly feeling deathly cold and numb where it had touched) before he vanished again, appearing standing in his original position. He began to slowly float up into the air.

"Now then, Pierrot-sama's revival draws near, so I have important preparations to make! I will see you again soon, girls! _Adieu_!"

In a whirling flash of purple playing-cards, Joker vanished, his high, deranged laughter echoing through the air. Seconds later, with adrenaline fading out and pain & exhaustion finally overcoming her, Nao lost consciousness.

-_Break_-

**Nanairogaoka Hospital**

**Some Time Later**

"…And that is where we stand presently" Reika finished.

Quite a few people were present in the large hospital room. Besides the four unharmed Cures, Candy, and the Midorikawa family, Pop had arrived as well, having hurried over as soon as Candy contacted him and tearfully told him what had happened. Furthermore, by sheer coincidence, Akane's family had been here at the hospital for her little brother Genki's yearly checkup, and they had heard her unmistakable voice, panicked and near to tears, coming from the mouth of the local magical-girl heroine Cure Sunny as she and the other Cures accompanied a small pack of doctors & nurses, Cure Beauty explaining the situation to the lead one, as well as a gurney carrying her friend Nao in a horrible state. They'd seen the few amateur videos and pictures taken of the locally-famous heroes now & then, but now, seeing them up-close, hearing their familiar voices, it was quickly obvious to the Hino family that it was their daughter and her friends Miyuki, Yayoi, and Reika, and that by process of elimination Nao must've been the fifth member.

As Nao was rushed into emergency treatment, Akane's family had followed the group, and once the doctors had rushed her past the door that the others weren't allowed to follow through, Akane/Sunny had turned around to find her mother & father right there, giving looks of understanding. As emotionally shaken as she was at the moment, her mother placing a hand on her shoulder had been all it took to make her collapse into her parents' arms, de-transforming as she finally started crying. The other three had dispelled their transformations as well, supporting each other as the adrenaline wore off and the worrying cranked up. Nao's family had caught up a minute later, and once things had calmed down a bit Miyuki had suggested that, with how things were going, they might as well bring the other three families into the loop as well.

So here they were, packed into this sizable room – the Cure group, Candy & Pop, Nao's parents and siblings, Akane's parents and brother, Miyuki's mother, Yayoi's mother, Reika's older brother, and – via magic holographic video-screens courtesy of the 'Phone' Cure Décor – Miyuki's father & grandmother and Reika's mother & grandfather, along with the Midorikawa family doctor and the head of the group who'd tended to Nao's injuries. The Cure group, mostly Reika, had just finished explained the whole situation, starting with Märchenland's troubles and the 'birth' of the PreCures, and ending with the recent battle and the encounter with Joker.

And of course, in the center of the room, Nao lay on a hospital bed, still unconscious, machines hooked up to her to monitor her vitals, bandages covering her body beneath the sheet. Her arms and (beneath the covers) her legs were encased in a sort of strange, delicate-looking yet surprisingly sturdy latticework-like structure – some kind of fancy new type of cast invented by some tech-head in America to hopefully replace the thick, unwieldy, uncomfortable plaster casts of old [AN: it's a real thing; look up "Cortex cast". It's not in public use yet in our world, though; still experimental and "just one guy's bright idea" for us Real-Lifers, so don't get your limbs broken or you will still have to suffer the Heavy Thick Itchy Cast of Doom]. Thankfully, there was no threateningly serious damage to any of her organs; her lungs were bruised lightly from her broken ribs' poking edges, but not punctured, and her heart was okay. But she had a large amount of broken bones – arms, ribs, legs (including a small fracture in one of her femurs, the strongest bones in the body, which spoke of just how much force she'd been subjected to), a few cracks in her hip bones, and one of her legs had partially dislocated. Her feet, ankles, shoulders, and neck were undamaged, and mercifully her spinal cord was, too, though a few vertebrae had little fractures. Turns out, as 'cartoony' as it sounds, being squeezed nearly to death by a pair of goofy-looking giant hands can actually cause horrendous damage.

"This has never happened before…" Akane said, still sounding quite upset. "We've been at this for _months_ now, but none of us have ever gotten anywhere _near_ this badly hurt before…"

"_Desperation drove Cure March's opponent to extremes_" Reika's grandfather replied. "_The knowledge that failure would mean her life, in addition to Joker's corruptive influence on her mind, pushed her to lengths she would have never dreamed of before._"

"Yeah…" Akane murmured. "I guess so… When Wolfrun fought me, he fought harder and fiercer than ever before, and he did the same in his final fight against Miyuki. I'm pretty sure he dislocated my shoulder at one point, though I managed to pop it back into place pretty quickly."

"If that's true, I'll want to x-ray that shoulder of yours after this," the doctor said to her, "just in case."

"I still can't believe that the Bad End trio used to be Märchenland fairies…" Pop said. "Upon further thought, they do look a bit familiar… Oh… Oh no, I think I know who they were! Wolrun, Oninin, and Majorin… Because they represented the bad guys, even though they were actually nice people, a lot of fairies were really mean to them and scared of them and such. I tried to fix it, but the fairies wouldn't listen to me. And one day, those three disappeared, shortly before Pierrot's forces began their attack. I assumed they'd fallen to the Bad End forces, but… Joker must've found them when they were at their weakest emotionally, and used Pierrot's power to brainwash them! We of Märchenland drove them into the arms of the enemy!"

"And now Joker and Pierrot are torturing them, making them into mindless berserkers with the intent of forcing us to kill them…" Reika said.

"That's just… t-too cruel…" Yayoi started to cry.

"_This… 'Joker'…_" Miyuki's grandmother said. "_He's a monster…_"

"I…" Genki spoke up. "I never imagined a magical-girl villain could be so… depraved and vile…"

"And he's strong, too" Miyuki said, speaking softly. "When we first fought him, he took on all five of us at once and won easily. Even later, when Cure Beauty fought him, she had to go all-out, and she only won because she managed to catch him by surprise with a trick… and even then, she didn't cause any serious damage to him; he _chose_ to fall back once the other three were KO-ed and Candy was rescued."

"We've gotten stronger since then" Akane replied. "Maybe it'll be enough."

"And he is planning to wait until Nao recovers before he initiates his endgame," Reika added, "if only because he wants to make all five of us suffer at the same time…"

10-year-old Keita, second-oldest of the Midorikawa siblings, had yet to leave the position he'd assumed since being allowed in here: knelt down at Nao's bedside, resting his head on folded arms beside her hand, listening to the entire explanation and conversation but saying nothing. He was dull and listless, his heart wounded by what he'd seen earlier today… The young boy let out a ragged sigh as he laid his head down next to his beloved big sister's hand. Suddenly, he felt something slowly, gently brush against the side of his head, and as he opened his eyes he saw that it was a lattice-casted hand, its owner's tired, half-open dark-green eyes looking straight at him. He gasped softly, feeling tears start to come to his eyes.

"N… _Nao!-!_"

Keita's shout startled nearly everyone, and they looked to the bed to see that Nao was indeed awake. Immediately the rest of her family crowded around the bed, with the four other Cures trying to squeeze in as well; they were very careful not to touch her limbs (other than her shoulders and her ankles & feet) or her torso (other than the top-most portion). Her mother slowly reached out a trembling hand and gently stroked her cheek. After a few seconds, Nao looked down at the foot of the bed, seeing Hina and Yūta there, tears in their eyes as they looked back at her.

"A… Are you two okay?" she asked them, her voice rough and weak.

At this, the two children burst into tears, sobbing as remorse and guilt overtook them.

"It's our fault!" Hina wailed. "W-we ju… just wanted to get the apples! We just wanted to help!"

"Apples?" Genji questioned.

"We…" Keita replied. "We all went shopping together so Nao-néechan could make mom's curry recipe, but we forgot the apples. S-So these two… went out without telling us, because they saw how upset _néechan _was about forgetting them and messing it up, and they wanted to help and cheer her up, I guess, so they snuck out and went to get some. And while they were out, that witch found them…"

"Our fault!" Yūta sobbed. "Our fault _onée-chan_ got hurt! Our fault!"

"If anything, it's…" Nao took a slightly wheezing breath "m-my fault for forgetting the apples in the first place. Mom, Dad, I'm… sorry I screwed up watching these guys so badly…"

"It's not your fault, sweetheart" her mother replied. "I'm not upset with you."

'Though I'm a bit tempted to literally keep those two on leashes for a while, if this whole incident doesn't scare them into never pulling something like that again…' the woman thought.

"H… How long have you been awake, Nao?" Reika asked.

"I woke up enough to actually make sense of words while Pop was puzzling out the Bad End Trio's origins" the injured girl replied. "…Is that… Akane's little brother?"

"Akane-chan's family was here for checkups when we brought you in" Miyuki replied. "We were all still in our PreCure forms, and they recognized her voice, and then puzzled out who we were because… well, we five are always together nowadays. After that, with two families having found out in one day, I… decided that maybe we should bring the other three in on things as well."

Moving her head slowly, Nao looked around at the sizable 'audience' in the room, including two doctors, one of whom she recognized as the family doctor.

"N-Nao…"

Hearing the tiny voice, Nao looked down at the little fairy who had now climbed up onto the bed; Candy's hair/ears drooped as if to accentuate her sadness, her little eyes holding tears as she looked up at Nao's face and injured body.

"You were fortunate, Nao-dono" Pop chimed in, hopping up beside his baby sister. "There wasn't any directly-fatal damage; your lungs are bruised, but not dangerously so, and your spinal cord is undamaged, though a couple of vertebrae have cracks in them. You've got a lot of broken bones, though; even with magically-boosted healing, you'll be out of commission for a little while."

"Magically-boosted healing?" the more experienced doctor asked. "I get that magic exists – you explained its basic functions and such – but can it passively effect healing?"

"Yes, Doctor" the elder fairy replied. "Because she is a PreCure, that magic inherent in Nao-dono's body will result in her injuries healing between two and three times faster than a normal person's, the rate depending on how 'vital' or important each injured point is; for instance, her lungs and spinal vertebrae will probably be completely healed within 48 hours. Her other bones will take longer, but still much faster than a regular non-magic-using human's. …She won't be up & about for a few days at least, though; from what I can remember of human anatomy, and with some calculations… I'd say it'll still be about two weeks before all her bones are completely healed."

"Well, compared to the _six_ weeks it can normally take, I'd say that's a marked improvement" the doctor said. "And thanks to that other little spell-trick you used on the damaged bones, we didn't have to put any pins in…"

"Good" Nao murmured with a tiny grin. "I don't wanna set off metal detectors…"

"I didn't know you knew any medical magic, Pop" Yayoi chimed in.

"Trust me, you don't want to hear the story of _why_ I went to the trouble of learning it" He shuddered at an unpleasant memory.

"So what's broken?" Nao asked her family doctor.

"Seven ribs, a couple microfractures in your sternum, your right humerus, your left humerus and ulna, your right middle finger, a few small fractures in your hip bones, your right kneecap has a small fracture but the joint as a whole is intact, both tibias just below the knee, one worse than the other, and your femurs both have some small fractures. Also, your right hip was dislocated. Other than the one finger, your hands and wrists are unbroken (though there is some bruising), as are your ankles and feet, as well as your neck, shoulders, and skull."

"Can it… be just mom & dad in here with me for a few minutes?" she asked. "Please? Just for a little?"

Everyone acquiesced to her request, leaving or being led out, and soon it was just Nao and her parents in the room, the latter at either side of her bed.

"Mom… Dad… I'm sorry you and the kids got caught up in all this."

"You don't need to apologize, Nao" Genji replied, smiling at her.

"You were so brave…" Tomoko said.

"I just wanted… _needed_ to protect you all… The thought of anything happening, to you or to the kids…"

"You're one of 'the kids', sweetie" her father said.

"But I'm the oldest… I'm s-supposed to protect and look after the others… When she was crushing me, I… I knew that I was giving myself up to protect you all… But even with that, I… I…" Tears finally built up in her eyes, and she sobbed. "I was so scared…" she squeaked out. "I was so… so _scared_…"

Tomoko Midorikawa gently embraced her eldest daughter around the head and shoulders, hearing and feeling as the girl shook and sobbed.

"I t-thought… that I was going to die… and it was gonna be… s-slow and horrible…" she whimpered. "I was so scared… A-And it hurt… Mama, it hurt so much! I couldn't even breathe… I ju… just w-wanted it to stop! I can still f-feel it! It's so scary and it hurts so much, mama!"

The parents gently held their still-traumatized daughter as she cried. They could fix out the details of her being a superheroine later. Right now, she needed time to heal, and more than that she needed the certain kind of comfort and security that only they, as her mother and father, could provide…

**-**_**Flashback End**_**-**

Nao's youngest sibling, Yui, was born the next day after the battle. Due to the rapid healing, Nao had been discharged from the hospital in only eight days. Two weeks to the day after that battle, Joker had made his attempt to psychologically break Reika, only to be bested by her in a swordfight, blasted by her brand-new Blizzard Arrow attack, and then narrowly escape as the girls (Nao/March still in a few bandages) obliterated his last Hyper-Akanbe with their Royal Rainbow Burst. The rest had gone as "canon" did, more or less – the final fight against the Bad End Trio, now starting off the fight in the pumped-up, Darkness-wreathed, rage-consumed state that canon-them had only gone into for the final seconds of the battle; Miyuki reaching through their pain and rage, comforting and purifying them; Joker arriving and creating the Bad End PreCures, and then ravaging the world while the Cures fought and killed their dark counterparts; Joker gleefully sacrificing his own life-force to complete Pierrot's revival; Candy's rebirth as the next destined Queen of Märchenland; and the climactic final battles that saw Pierrot destroyed, but the girls stripped of their powers and separated from Candy… until Master Yen-Sid came along yesterday, that is.

The girls' families being brought into the loop turned out well. The emotional and physical support was quite helpful to the girls, especially in the wake of the final battle. One thing of note was that the events of that day had changed something in Keita; the 10-year-old had taken it upon himself to be more responsible, taking care of himself however he could and doing more to care for and control his younger siblings, primarily in order to lighten Nao's workload in any way he could. The other kids understood and accepted this, also doing whatever they could to make things a little easier for their big sister (though, for six-year-old Hina, four-year-old Yūta, and three-year-old Kōta, this wasn't much, as they were simply too young, too little, to _not_ need lots of being taken care of and watched over and having things done for them by Nao and Keita). Also, for a while afterward, the kids had taken the habit of sleeping in the same room and sometimes the same bed as Nao, as close to her as they could, simply to help reassure themselves that she was okay, that they wouldn't wake up and find out that they'd dreamed her recovery and she was actually gone.

Erika S. was startled from her thoughts as the girl in question sat down next to her.

"What's up?" Nao asked her.

"J-Just… thinking about some of the differences b-between this timeline and the TV show's back w-where I come from."

"Differences?"

"…N-Nothing major…" the little girl averted her gaze nervously.

"Come on, it's not like one of us died in the other timeline… right?"

"N-No, but… in the show's timeline, y-you didn't almost-die. The f-fight against Majorina went pretty differently."

"Oh…" Nao suppressed a shudder at the memory.

"A-Also, Cure Happy's f-fight against Wolfrun took place _after_ Beauty's a-against Joker. And a couple other differences, too. B-But overall, things went pretty much the same."

Erika moved to stand up, but let out a quiet squeak as the movement made her immediately realize she had 'gone' while lost in thought. She blushed lightly, fidgeting her fingers, until she felt Nao's hand on her shoulder.

"U-Uh… I've gotta go f-find Timmy or Lai to… h-help me take care of something" she said.

"Want me to take care of it for you, hon?" Nao asked.

"Huh?" Erika's eyes widened a little. "O-Oh, I wouldn't want t-to trouble you with s-such a task…"

"Sweetie, I have six younger siblings. And I've helped raise each one. I can help you, no problem. Lemme change you, and then maybe you can show me that 'Aero' line of spells you use."

"Um… Okay."

As Erika let Nao take her hand and stand her up, she thought about how, between Fate and Mion and Aqua and Yang and a few others, and now Nao, there were more people like Sarah in the multiverse than she thought. And she was quite okay with that.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next Time: the three PreCure teams finally meet, and the bad guys (well, the sapient ones) show themselves. Expect a delay due to a class report (1200-1600 words; Post-WW African-American literature) and an ongoing translation project, but Chapter Three probably will be up before the end of April. Probably.


	3. Bolstering Numbers

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Realm PC-5 – Earth – Japan – Kibōgahana**

**Day 2 (Day after Chapter 1) – 4:35 PM**

The HeartCatch group were finished watching through the magic 'archival footage' of the DDF, from Nanoha's first adventure to the recent events on planet Remnant and everything in-between, as well as that of the Suite and Smile PreCure teams. The girls were quite surprised by the magnitude of what they'd been dragged into, though also excited (particularly Erika Kurumi, who was also still thinking about how the DDF already had another Erika, though this one was American, more like Tsubomi in personality, _and_ was a fan of PreCures, who happened to be a fictional series in her 'verse). They also, as a result, understood the personal investment Group Madoka had in tracking Xehanort's underlings here.

"So what comes next?" Itsuki asked.

"We wait for a message from Command," Mami replied, "and then we all get warped up to the _Starshot_, to meet up with two more groups – the two other PreCure teams and their DDF team escorts – as well as more of our people who'll be joining in for the remainder of this whole mission."

"This is gonna be _so cool_!" Erika K. said. "I'm gonna go pack some stuff to show off, and then we'll…"

As the blue-haired girl continued to excitedly chatter while walking away, Tsubomi sat down beside Madoka.

"Um… So, when you saw Malia's whole self right before she left, you sensed something different about her?"

Madoka nodded. "I'm not quite sure what it is" she replied. "Because of the nature of my powers, and my attunement with other _Puellae Magi_, I can sort of… I think some of her Heartless' sadism and ego didn't transfer over when she became a Whole Being again. She's still evil, though, that much I can tell; she just probably won't be as… _nasty_ about it."

"That's good, right? Seeing how sadistic her Heartless was, how much joy she took in causing pain, her Whole-Self not having that might make her a bit easier to deal with, right?"

"Or it might make her _harder_" Yuri chimed in as she walked up. "Without the urge to 'play with' her victims, and without a huge ego making her feel unstoppable and underestimate her foes, she might fight more seriously now, with more control over herself as well. Plus, her Heartless mentioned that her Whole-Self has some form of plant-manipulation powers…"

"Right," Sayaka joined in, "so we might have to watch out for vines with armor-piercing thorns, or flowers with razor-sharp petals, or lethally-toxic pollen, or thorny vines that grow razor-sharp flowers which spurt out toxic pollen."

"We won't know until we encounter her again" Madoka replied. "Though, when we do run into her again I have a feeling we'll have quite a fight on our hands…"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Realm PC-6 – Earth – Japan – Kanon Town – Outside the Old Concert Hall**

**Day 2 – 5:25 PM**

With the Suite team having finished watching all the 'archival footage', they and their accompanying DDF team – Fate, Teana, Sarah, Marie – were getting ready to be 'warped' up to the _Starshot_. The Cures were still going over in their heads some of the things they'd seen and learned, particularly things related to the other two PreCure teams. Now, the group who would be accompanying the DDF to the ship – the four Cures, Hummy & the Fairy Tones (Marie said it'd make a good band name; the Tones and Hibiki agreed), Otokichi, and the enchanted box that contained the fairly powerful entity known as "Crescendo Tone" – gathered near the spot where the DDF quartet had initially arrived earlier today.

"I'll admit, I'm excited for this" Kanade said with a smile. "Meeting two other PreCure teams…"

"Maybe we'll bring them on a tour here afterwards" Ako suggested. "Show them the clock tower, bring them for a snack at Kanade's folks' shop…"

"Show 'em the enchanted organ here," Hibiki picked up, resting an arm on Ako's shoulder, "have Hummy show the fairies around our music-themed park, get you back to Sōta sooner…"

Ako was smiling and nodding in agreement, but then her brain caught up with what she'd heard and she stopped, blushing and frowning at Hibiki. She tried to kick the older girl's shin, only for Hibiki to jump out of the way, giggling.

"Okay, people, gather 'round and get ready to jump!" Teana called out. "I'll warn you, your first 'port can be a bit disorienting. I trust you all listened to me and didn't eat anything in the last hour, right?"

"How come _you_ did?" Hibiki asked.

"Because our bodies are used to it" Sarah replied. "It only takes a few jumps to get acclimated. Unless something goes wrong, successive 'ports are never as bad as your first one."

Everyone got close together, and before long a large teleportation circle formed beneath them.

"Wait" Seiren said. "What do you mean, 'if something goes wro-'"

In a flash of light, everyone vanished.

**-**_**Break**_**-**

_**Starshot **_**– 'Warp Room'**

Atop three 'warp pads', three flashes of magical energy took place simultaneously, depositing a multitude of people.

"…you have to eat them with a spoon! …Oh hey, we're here already."

"…which means that any organic being with sufficient biomass and cognitive capability is a potential factor. Don't worry, though; they're not a threat at the moment."

"-ong? …Oh wow, you weren't kidding about the disorientation…"

After spending a few seconds recovering from the aftereffects of their first teleport, the Suite group looked around, spotting the two other groups who'd been warped in: Group Madoka & the HeartCatch girls accompanied by their three fairies and Kaoruko, and Theta Team & the Smile girls with Candy & Pop. As soon as they could all walk straight without stumbling, the three groups of girls converged toward each other, meeting in the center of the room.

"This is _awesome_!" Erika Kurumi said. "Thirteen PreCures!"

"I wonder what kind of combinations we'll be able to pull off…" Yayoi said.

"Our enemies are sure in for a surprise now" Ako said.

"Hanasaki-san, that fight you girls had against the second Desert Devil was amazing!" Miyuki said.

"No, um…" Tsubomi fidgeted, still not use to praise. "Well, you girls taking down that Iron Imprisoner was really cool, too."

As the girls mingled, their fairy partners chatted, and Otokichi & Kaoruko looked on, the accompanying three DDF groups also pulled together off to the side, sharing what info they'd gathered. Soon, the doors opened, and in walked another group of DDF personnel who'd be joining in for this op: Subaru, Ahsoka, Aqua, Kaede K, Reisen, Sunset Shimmer (who seemed quite content to remain in her human form almost indefinitely nowadays), the four girls of Team RWBY, Mel Johnson & Ishtar Solos, the two Links, Itachi, Tiida, and Alicia. A few of the other big names, like Nanoha, Jiraiya, Quint, Negi, and Sasuke, were presently busy on other assignments, but who knew how those missions and this one might end up going?

"Hey, Tia" Tiida called out from beside his cousin. "Itachi and I have something to show you. Sasuke already knows."

"Whatcha got?" the orange-haired girl asked as she walked up.

"You know how upgrading the Mangekyō to its Eternal form requires that the user be fitted with a Mangekyō-possessing blood-relative's eyes, right? Well…"

"It turns out that Madara and Obito kept Sasuke's old eyes in their storage area when they gave him my old body's eyes," Itachi picked up, "and Tsunade-sama kept _your_ eyes when she gave you Tiida's old ones. So he and I… took advantage of that…"

Itachi and Tiida activated their eyes, and Teana gasped; Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan now looked just like Sasuke's, while Tiida's looked like her own.

"Y-You… You both used my & Sasuke's old eyes and got the Eternal Mangekyō…" she murmured.

"Yep!" her big brother said. "This'll significantly cut down on the chakra cost of MS techniques, in addition to those eye-repairing nanite things being rendered unnecessary."

"…I will admit, I am a little worried about third-cousin Asuka…" Itachi spoke up. "She has been planning to force her Mangekyō to awaken by deliberately diving deep into the memories of what happened to Kyōko-san. Though apparently, if she does awaken it she and her mother & grandmother plan to promptly perform a three-way swap so as to all gain the EMS."

"But with how delicate her still-recovering psyche is, it might not come out of the attempt intact…" Teana reasoned. "I'll talk to her as soon as I can. Anyway, Itachi-_nii_, how's Reisen-san coming along?"

The stoic _Jōnin_ smiled a little. "Very well" he replied, looking out as Reisen was absorbed in conversation with a few of the other girls. "She has a remarkable aptitude for _genjutsu_; everything I teach her, she takes to very quickly. Her skill with a blade is also coming along well. As her teacher, I'm fairly proud of her."

"What'll you do if she ever decides to seek out revenge against the people she blames for ruining her old life?" Tiida asked.

Itachi's smile faded, worrying about what the rabbit-girl's desire for revenge against this 'Yagokoro' person might do to her. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it…"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Realm PC-5 – Earth – Japan – Unpopulated Field Area Outside/Behind Hanasaki Botanical Garden**

**Day 2 – 7:30 PM**

It was a simple op: the Lanstar siblings would lead Team RWBY, Theta-7/Anya, and Cures Beat & Beauty in clearing out an incursion/nest of Unversed. Upon arrival, they set up a Dimension-Shift Barrier and got to work. They split into two groups – Tiida led the Beacon team, while Teana handled the little fire-mage and the two PreCures. As they watched their two COs fight, using little more than kunai, physical blows, basic Device attacks, and low-level elemental _jutsu_, the subordinates got to see how while the four Uchihas all had Fire as their primary affinity, each of them had one of the four other 'core' elements as their secondary: Sasuke had Lightning, Teana had Wind, Itachi had Water…

"_Doton: Chidōkaku_!"

…and Tiida had Earth, as demonstrated when he forced a 10-square-meter slab of ground to abruptly shoot up by a dozen meters, unbalancing the pack of Scrappers and Large Bodies standing on it, and leaving them unable to dodge a wide-area ice attack from Weiss that took them all out. Yang's fire-bolts shot Axe Flappers out of the sky, while Ruby used her scythe to cut down Mandrakes. Elsewhere, Anya used _Katon: Hōsenka_ to wipe out a large pack of Floods, while a Beauty Blizzard took down a swarm of Red-Hot Chilis, and Teana's _Fūton: Shinkūha_ cut down a pack of Scrappers.

As he crushed a Scrapper's head with a kick, Tiida saw as an Invisible Heartless silently appeared from the ground a short distance behind Blake, who was too busy shooting at a pack of Floods to notice. However, his Sharingan also detected the unmistakable form of a cloaked Sangheili approaching the Heartless from behind as it did the same to Blake, and so he hung back and watched. Sure enough, just as the Invisible was about to sneak-attack Blake, a plasma sword ignited and was rammed through its torso from behind, startling Blake, who turned around to see her would-be ambusher's killer de-cloaking as he tossed the dissolving body aside, revealing ornate silver armor.

"Hello" Thel said. "Mind if I cut in? I've nothing better to do after overseeing a meeting between Keeps back on the homeworld a few days ago."

The cat Faunus was a bit surprised, but then nodded. "The more, the merrier" she replied. "I'm starting to think all the people we've got already could be a bit overkill for this whole event-series on these three worlds, but who knows what could happen?"

Meanwhile, as Teana spin-kicked a Shoegazer a dozen meters, her Device chimed in:

"Sir, two Saiyan energy signatures have been detected entering the area."

"Saiyans?" she wondered. "Maybe uncle and Goku are bored…"

Seconds later, two Saiyans did indeed show up, but not the two she'd already worked with so far. A little figure dressed in orange over blue dove into a 'thicket' of Unversed, his little fists & feet dealing surprisingly powerful blows as he began smashing 'em up. Seconds later, a slightly taller boy in blue over orange landed beside Teana, looking up at her.

"So you're my cousin, huh?" Trunks asked.

"My dad was your dad's big bro, so yeah" Teana replied. "…Does Uncle Vegeta know you're here?"

"Uhhh…" 

"Hey, Trunks!" Goten called out between attacks. "Come on, you're missing out! I'm gonna take your share if you don't hurry~!"

"Ah! Wait! No fair, you got a head start!"

With that, the boy rushed in to join his friend. Teana gave a sigh and a smirk, while using a back kick to bash a Hareraiser's face in without looking.

**-**_**Break**_**-**

**Back on the Ship – 20 Minutes Later**

Trunks was rather happy; even with a late start, he'd ended up beating Goten's kill count. But as he walked into the portside lobby and saw his father waiting for him, his smile dropped off his face like a brick. But then, Vegeta gave the boy a tiny smile.

"I've done crazier things, Trunks," he said, "and I know you have, too. Your mother was _initially_ rather cross, but upon finding out all the people who were already here she calmed down, as she realized you'd be safe under the DDF's watch. All the same, expect a talking-to once you get home."

"Right…" the boy replied, downtrodden. "So… I guess we'll be heading out?"

"Not just yet" Vegeta said. "Let's hang around and help your cousins for a while."

The boy's smile returned. "Alright! …What about Goten?"

"I suspect at this point that Chi-Chi has given up on stopping the boy once he wants to jump into the fray; besides, she may fret over his safety and his studies but she _does_ have confidence in him when the chips are down. Plus, she knows that he's safer with you than if he'd gone alone. …Granted, he'll still get a bit of an earful once he's home, but not as bad as you might expect from her."

Trunks winced. "I still don't envy him. Goten's mom is actually a bit scarier than mine when she gets really pissed off."

Vegeta looked around and then leaned in close to the boy as he whispered. "Don't tell your mother, but I agree. No wonder Kakarot's so whipped."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Realm PC-5 – Earth – Japan – Unpopulated Field Area Outside/Behind Hanasaki Botanical Garden**

**Day 3 – 11:50 AM**

The DDF personnel, the three PreCure teams & their fairies, Kaoruko & Coupe, and Yuri Tsukikage's mother Haruna were gathered for an impromptu picnic lunch, interacting in various ways. The Arbiter, Kaede K., and Vegeta were meditating under a tree, and Fate was in her Child Form playing around with her sisters; despite Laicixa's stoic façade/exterior, she was actually slightly livelier, more playful, energetic, and adventurous than Fate was, having once been Alicia's Nobody and all, though she could not match her Original's sheer exuberant energy levels and such, and she was more like Fate in terms of her quietness, self-consciousness, and unease around new people; in Precia's words, Laicixa was a 'balance' between Alicia and Fate, personality-wise.

Marie was behind a bush with Erika S., just finishing up changing her little sister; while initially, the personalized/custom-forged, 'super-max-comfort' diapers worn by the three young DDF personnel who needed them (as well as any inpatients below a certain age at some of the DDF's member-factions' hospitals, as per policy) always had the same design (pale-pink waistband, tapes, and little hearts), recently they'd started experimenting with new designs – Erika's current new one had mostly-pink butterflies on it, the one Mariko currently had on beneath her skirt had little bunnies, and back in Realm-ELD Nozomi currently wore a flower-themed one (and nothing else) as she relaxed with Kōta (Kaede K. had told her two lovers not to wait around on her behalf, though also to save up some of their 'stamina' for when she did get back home).

Tiida sat and watched as his young father's-side cousin played around with Goten and Young-Link. Nearby, his (physically) same-aged, mother's-side cousin sat back, basking in the sun; at first Tiida thought Itachi was meditating, but instead the experienced, often-weary _nin_ was simply relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere (while also keeping his senses tuned for anything suspicious or potentially threatening/dangerous; such was a habit that every shinobi eventually developed to some degree). Twilight-Link, Aqua, Homura, and Teana were going over something mission-related together, while Anya, Caro, and Ako were swapping stories, Erika K. and Miyuki were comparing designs, and everyone else grouped together and did their own thing.

The atmosphere seemed calm and peaceful. But suddenly, Vegeta, Thel, Itachi, and Ahsoka snapped into alertness, frowns on their faces (well, the equivalent of a frown on the Arbiter's) as they sensed an intrusion with hostile intent. They looked around, and soon their eyes locked on a spot off to the side. Noticing their attention, everyone else followed their gazes, and heart-rates promptly shot up a little. On a moss-covered boulder around 20 meters away from the group, a little girl in a black cloak, with long black hair and golden eyes, was perched, slouching and supporting her cheek with one first as a little smirk was on her face. Leaning against either side of the rock were a taller, more developed teen girl with black hair and rounded silver horns sprouting from either side of her head, and a third girl in-between the other two in terms of height and age, a small oval-shaped dull-pink gem situated in her chest just above her meager cleavage.

"Yo" Ruin said.

Immediately everyone got up on their feet and ready to fight, some drawing their weapons; Fate, Teana, Laicixa, Group Madoka, and the Cures all transformed into their combat outfits. Ruin hopped down off the rock, walking forward with Karidé and Malia on either side.

"Fancy running into you all here…" she said, eyeing her three 'sisters' as they clustered together, glaring at her.

"I'm guessing you girls aren't here to join the picnic" Vegeta remarked.

"No," Malia replied, "though I might snatch some of those oatmeal raisin cookies I see before all is said and done. Until then, let's see how I can do with my original plant-based powers _and_ the Darkness-based ones I gained back when I was a Heartless."

"Did you come here for anything _besides_ showing off and stealing our food?" Alicia asked.

"Well, we could put on a bit of a 'show'…" Karidé replied, grinning.

"What kind of 'show'?" Kaede K. asked her counterpart.

Ruin stepped forward. "Back when I was working for Amon, before I switched over to Master Xehanort's faction, Narud taught me a little something. It worked pretty well for him, so let's see what I can do with it."

Teana smirked. "What? So you're gonna try shape-shifting to throw us off as you fight?"

Ruin chuckled… and began making hand-signs. And as she formed the last seal, everyone felt shock, panic, and dread as she announced the technique's name:

"_Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei_!"

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

You are now hanging from ze cliff, yes. …Okay, so I got distracted and procrastinated on my report, but it's due on the 28th, so I can't put off working on it any more. I'm going to have to not even touch the next chapter of this story until I've finished my paper, so expect a much bigger wait, unfortunately.


	4. Lamentations of the Lost

Sorry for the long wait; as I said at the end of last chapter, I had to _completely stop_ any work on this chapter in order to attend to other matters, and even then after finishing one I had to keep working on the other whilst working on this. Plus, fight-scene chapters always take me a while; the writer's block ate up almost as much time as the report did.

Second, I feel a need to apologize a bit about the RWBY-verse getting sorta shafted. When I started Book 25, I had plans for everything to come to a head on the world of Remnant – the _Edo Tensei_ battle, another few upcoming fights, the final battle against Malia… But then, while working on #25, I discovered _PreCure_. Pulled in by the series, I decided that I just _had_ to incorporate it into the Travels-verse. So I hastily put something together, adding or augmenting ideas to bring the Cures in, and moved on. Unfortunately, a casualty of that was that a lot of the stuff and character focus meant for RWBY-verse people & locations got shifted over to #26 or downsized. That said, I am going to be trying my best to give Team RWBY a bit more screen-time from here on.

Thirdly, I am considering writing/editing out the _Digimon_, _Sailor Moon_, and maybe _Yu-Gi-Oh_ mentions and characters; they don't really seem to have any meaningful role in this series after all.

Fourthly, a minor thing: why I say "heels over head" instead of "head over heels". When you think about it, "head over heels" is… well, standing. Or sitting. Or any situation unless you're actively holding your feet higher than your head. When you think about that, it… doesn't make much sense. So, say, "head over heels in love" is "standing or sitting… while in love". Kinda… meh, you know?

Lastly, certain character height measurements – particularly, of child/early-teen characters – may be changed to be shorter than what has been given so far; apparently, using fandom-guessed measurements, _one_ dubiously-canon height (apparently from what I've Googled, Negi Springfield's (Negima-wiki-given) height of 4'7" is above the average for a 10-year-old boy; or is it not?), and my own (abnormally tall; presently 19 and 5'11") younger sister as measuring sticks was not the right thing to do when looking for closer-to-realistic heights for children characters. Consider what has been given so far in previous Books to be of 'nebulous canon' (not quite "non-canon" yet, but leaning toward that) while I try and figure out what to do with them. If anyone of my readers has verifiable trustworthy and comprehensive knowledge on child/preteen/early-teen heights, feel free to let me know.

Anyway, here we go.

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Realm PC-5 – Earth – Japan – Unpopulated Field Area Outside/Behind Hanasaki Botanical Garden**

**Day 3 – 11:55 AM**

A multitude of large rectangular wooden boxes shot up from the ground, some bearing the letters "C.F." on the front, the C.F. group composed of much more boxes than the unmarked ones. Everyone felt nervous; that was a _lot_ of Impure World Resurrection summons.

"On top of everything else, now she's got _Edo Tensei_…" Teana murmured. "This could get bad…"

"Surprise~!" Ruin shouted in a sing-song tone, adding a little giggle at the end that would've been quite cute coming from a little girl who wasn't a sapient mass of Darkness and evil. "I found quite a few people with 'connections' to some of you. However, I knew I'd need more than them, so I also brought back a big bunch of cannon fodder; they make up the "C.F." group, and now you know what the letters stand for. Most of them are shinobi who died in the Fourth Great War, and of them about 70% were killed by Madara when he massacred the 4th Battalion. There are a few non-shinobi, though, people with noteworthy special abilities or enough martial skill to be worth a distraction. Heh; I was pretty surprised to find out that the priest I found was a brown-belt, even if he didn't really use that knowledge much when he was alive. And I even found one of Narud's old agents, too, _and_ the agent's underling! This ought to be _good_. Now, then…"

Ruin snapped her fingers, and the lids of the summoned coffins all fell, and various emotions shot through the DDF group as the resurrected occupants were revealed. There was an older gentleman in a black outfit with dark-red belt and a brown cape, with age-whitened hair and beard – Count Dooku; a man in all black combat robes, with vibrant red & black skin and a 'crown' of several sharp horns curving upward from his skull – Darth Maul; a young-adult male in a dull grey-blue suit, with wild spiky silver hair and slightly-pale skin – Averruncus Secundum; a very tall man clad in robes of black and red, a red-marked white mask over his face – Dynamis; a very tall man covered head to toe in dull-green armor, along with red or yellow extra armor over his shoulders, shins, and chest – Jorge-052; a Sangheili clad in ornate silver armor identical to Arbiter Vadam's, but bearing the symbol of a Keep long since forcibly dissolved – Fal Chavam, the Arbiter who'd defied the Prophets back in the early 23rd century;

A harlequin-like figure, clad in purple & white with a multicolored jester's hat, dark-purple hair, and a black-eyed white mask on the upper half of his face – Joker, former elite underling of Pierrot; a tall man in a long two-toned grey coat with black boots, and upper-back-length silver hair – Professor Tsukikage, Yuri/Moonlight's father; a girl who looked around 16-18 years of age, wearing a short-sleeved black dress went down to her upper thighs and black boots with stockings that went up past her knees, dark-green hair that reached to just above her shoulders with a jagged red flower-thing on one side, a white glove on her right hand and a long black glove that reached up past her elbow on her left, and a single large black wing-like structure emerging from her left back – Dark PreCure; a young girl around 14 years of age with twin-braided pale-purple hair that reached her upper back, wearing long dark-grey pants, sky-blue shoes with armor-plated toes, a tight powder-blue shirt under an open long-sleeved deep-blue jacket – Miyako Ishimura; a woman wearing a long white hooded cloak, a hint of dull-red hair visible beneath the hood and an outfit of reds & whites within the cloak – Summer Rose, Ruby's mother;

From the 'cannon fodder' boxes, there was a multitude of shinobi from the Five Great Villages, as well as a few people from other realms: a man in a black trenchcoat, gloves, boots, and hat, with long greasy black hair, and black circular sunglasses – the 'Hunter' from the Diclonii's Earth; a middle-aged man in a black suit with a white collar and (presently) a brown cloth belt, dull reddish-brown hair and matching goatee – Kyōko Sakura's father; a girl who looked around 14-16, tall and thin, with black hair, a black and dark-grey outfit of light combat armor, and a scar over her right eye from the thrown blade that had killed her – Jane Smythe; a young man wearing dark-purple and black powered armor, with a crimson HUD visor and a huge cannon over the right arm – Leonid Dragovich; and a handful of soldiers from other branches of the DDF, all of them killed in battles that took place after the coalition's founding.

And standing in the middle of the row of _Edo Tensei_ summons were two men who were, from an objective viewpoint, the greatest and most powerful threats, their appearances triggering unease or even fear in those who recognized them: a man in a long white coat with what looked like a pink googly-eyed lizard-shaped decoration on the left shoulder, his dark-green hair hanging down to his upper back, and a tall man wearing a black cloak with red clouds, with unnatural blue skin, gills on his cheeks, and spiked-up dark blue hair – the Desert King 'Dune', and Kisame Hoshigaki.

"C… Count Dooku _and_ Darth Maul?" Ahsoka murmured, swallowing nervously. "Oh boy…"

"Those two…" Marie glowered at Secundum and Dynamis. "The most fanatical of Lifemaker's minions, not to mention two of the strongest…"

"J… Jorge?" Teana whispered, starting to tremble; her brother's hand on her shoulder helped steady her a little.

Thel Vadam stared with seriousness and solemnity at his predecessor, the Sangheili who had seen what his people had become under the Prophets' rule, and had tried desperately to do something about it only to fail and lose everything, including his life. If only he had been born a few hundred years later…

"Joker…" Cure Beauty whispered, trembling a little, as the other four Smile Cures were in a similar state. "She brought_ him_ back…"

"Father… and Dark Cure… sister…" Cure Moonlight was wide-eyed and slightly ragged of breath, feeling sadness and shock welling up; her mother wasn't doing much better.

"Mi… Miyako-chan…" Madoka whispered/whimpered. "No…"

Kyōsuke was glaring at Ruin with shock and sadness turning into anger and cold hate. "How… dare you…"

Ruby was pale and trembling, unshed tears in her eyes, as she saw her mother's rest being disturbed and desecrated in such a manner, and at the horrible thought that Ruin might make the two of them _fight_. Yang held her from behind, trying to steady both Ruby and herself.

"Great" Kaede K. murmured, shooting an ice-cold glare at Director Kakuzawa's old 'attack dog'. "She brought _that_ bastard in, too."

"F… Father?" Kyōko pitifully squeaked, trembling, as an old wound that had never fully healed was ripped wide open all over again.

"Son of a bitch, it's these two…" Ishtar said as she and Mel readied their weapons.

"So Smythe and Dragovich turned traitor because Narud 'recruited' them?" Melody murmured. "Years before we ever made contact with the other factions and Amon was already causing us trouble…"

"Dune…" Kaoruko felt anger and fear; with her old enemy blessed with the infinite energy reserves and self-repairing body of _Edo Tensei_, how were they supposed to deal with him this time?

'I'm sorry this has come to pass, old friend…' Itachi thought as he looked at Kisame.

Soon, the resurrected individuals stirred, consciousness coming to them. A few of them, mostly the shinobi and Miyako, quickly realized what was going on as they looked at themselves, but others were still quite confused.

"What the devil is this…?" Count Dooku muttered.

At several other confused murmurings and expressions, one man spoke up.

"This is the result of a technique called _Edo Tensei_" Kisame Hoshigaki sounded out, grabbing the attention of those resurrected who didn't already know. "It's a forbidden technique from my world that allows the caster to summon the souls of the dead and bind them to bodies made of magically-altered earth and dust that self-repair any damage, contain all abilities one had in life, and have infinite energy reserves. The summoned souls are more often than not used to fight for the summoner, and if they don't want to they can have control of their bodies stripped from them and handed over to the summoner or to the technique's 'autopilot', trapped in their own bodies as they could be forced to fight and kill former allies, even friends or loved ones. Oh, and apparently, if there _is_ an afterlife, a summoned soul loses their memories of experience there when they're summoned, though I'd assume they get them back once 'released'."

"Fascinating…" Dune remarked. "Such a remarkable spell…"

"So what, we're some kind of magic super-zombies?" the 'Hunter' said.

"More or less" a Kumogakure shinobi replied. "I got killed by an _Edo Tensei_ summon; guy was a powerhouse, ripped through dozens of us like nothing."

"To do something so horrible, violate a soul's rest and force it to hurt innocents and loved ones left behind…" Mr. Sakura said. "Magic really is a terrible evil…"

"Hah! What are you talking about, _human_?" Dune said from beside the man, turning to face him. "Wherever did you get such an idea? Magic is not evil, nor is it good! It simply _is_! It is a neutral, fundamental force; specifically, 'magic' is the manipulation by sentient beings of a certain type of energy that pervades the Universe everywhere. There are many who use magic for selfish ends, true, and I admit that I myself fall under that category, but magic itself is above such mortal concepts as morality. True, there are some types of magic which can have detrimental effects on the user's body or mind, and some spells' intended effects & natures, like love magic or necromancy, could only ever really appeal to users of one morality or another, but even they are not fundamentally good or evil. …Water can give life in a desert, or drown with a flood; light can illuminate hidden dangers, or it can blind; a pistol can be used by a criminal to harm innocents, or a law-enforcer to protect them; a hammer can be used to build an orphanage, or bash a child's skull in." He leaned in closer as he wrapped up his lecture. "Magic is no more or less evil than gravity or the force that holds molecules together. It's a fundamental force of the universe, albeit one that can be manipulated by organic – and some synthetic – beings. …Of course, I'm what most would call 'evil', so in some cases a more 'righteous' person would not take my words at face value, but there are many defenders of the innocent and love & justice and all that rubbish who use magic to do it, and would tell you exactly what I just did."

"I don't think I've ever heard Dune talk so much…" Cure Blossom murmured.

"Trust me, this is normal for him when he feels like giving a 'lecture'" Kaoruko replied. "You girls were just fortunate enough not to trigger one."

'I…' the man thought. 'What Kyōko did with her 'wish'… It wasn't the devil's work? It was just a cold, neutral force with no good or evil to it?'

Before any of the _Edo Tensei_ summons could do or say anything else, their attention was finally called to the force of living in front of them; specifically, a psychic 'suggestion' had everyone's attention on three people who'd stepped forward into a line – two young males, and an orange-haired girl. Their eyes were closed as they synchronized their energies…

"…Teana?" Jorge said.

"Itachi-san?" Kisame murmured, shocked.

"_Tsu_" "_ku_" "_yomi_"

A trio of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan pairs opened, and instantly the resurrected summons were brought into the _genjutsu_'s world, where every 24 hours equaled a mere second in outside reality. Here, each one of them was shown a variation of the 'archival footage' custom-tailored for each individual, running all the way up to the moment Ruin cast _Edo Tensei_; some, like Fal Chavam and the two Sith, got 'extra' material to further their understanding, while on the opposite end of the spectrum Miyako only got the few things that had transpired since her recent death. After a handful of seconds, all the summons' consciousnesses returned to reality.

"So the Jedi Order and the Sith are both no more…" Darth Maul said. "Only a handful of Jedi left, nowhere near enough to rebuild their precious little organization…"

"Damn it all…" Count Dooku muttered. "All the promises he gave me that we'd find a way to get rid of the corrupt and self-serving Republic, and then he has me killed and then goes on to put something _even worse_ in the Republic's place! …And of course, Skywalker's old apprentice, one of the lone surviving Jedi, breaks the Order's 'no love' rule and not only avoids falling the darkness, but that love _strengthens _her connection to the Light, anchoring her to it; one more thing those old fools were wrong about…"

"Im… Impossible…" Dynamis murmured. "Lord Lifemaker is… is dead… _Obliterated_…"

Averruncus Secundum snarled, eyes glowing slightly, as he glared at Teana, who was the only currently-present member of the group that had slain the Last Precursor.

Jorge looked at Tiida. "Well," he said, "the last thing I said to Teana before I died was that I'd tell her brother hello for her, so… Hi, there. Didn't think it'd turn out quite like this, though." He looked at the Arbiter. "It's still hard for me to believe all the stuff about the Covenant's inner workings, or that a good chunk of 'em switched sides, but I won't argue with the results."

"So much has happened, worse than I'd feared…" Fal Chavam murmured. "The Prophets' lies, my people deceived into trying to exterminate the Forerunners' chosen successors, the true nature of the 'Great Journey'… But now my people are finally free of the Prophets' control, and have regained themselves under the guardianship of a wise and honorable leader… And now, I will be forced to fight him, perhaps even forced to _kill_ the Sangheili's greatest hope…"

"They… killed Pierrot-sama…" Joker muttered in shock. "I can't believe it…" Then, his typical fanged grin returned to him. "Ah, but now I have a superb chance to avenge him! A chance to foster more pain and despair! Now, let's see what these other PreCures can do…"

"Father…" Dark PreCure whispered out, looking sadness-shocked. "Dune… killed father… less than 10 minutes after I died…Moonlight and Blossom fought Dune with everything they had but Dune just… swatted them aside and _murdered_ father… Though at least… they managed to rally with the others and kill Dune afterward, but still… Father…"

"Yuri…" Mr. Tsukikage looked out at his eldest daughter. "I'm sorry it's all come to this… After everything you went through to kill Dune, this 'Ruin' has brought him back, on top of summoning me and your sister to make us fight you…"

"M- Madoka-san…" Miyako said. "Sayaka, Kyōsuke… I'm so sorry this is happening…"

"Great, so now the freaks are part of some big multi-dimensional thing, and I'm an undead zombie warrior-slave…" the 'Unknown Man' murmured. Then he grinned as he looked at some of the DDF group's members. "Oh, but there's lots of cherries ripe for picking here, so maybe this isn't so bad."

"So Narud is dead, eh?" Dragovich said, checking his arm cannon. "And Solos has gained some sort of power-nullifying ability…" He smirked. "Fortunately, my weapon's fire is not affected by it…"

"Damn it all, all the trouble I went through to try to kill her and things end up like this instead" Smythe seethed, glaring at Melody. "And it's been nine years, so she's physically an adult; I probably can't beat her like this." She stopped and thought. "But wait, this body is self-repairing and has infinite stamina; maybe I have a chance after all…"

Mr. Sakura would have fallen to his knees if he'd had control of his body. Learning the truth about what magic is, finding out that Kyōko _hadn't_ willingly sold her soul to the Devil but instead been tricked into unwittingly doing so to a cold, emotionless race of 'organic machines' who'd been doing horrible things, preying on young girls and wiping out whole sapient species to try and prolong the Universe's life (some part of him felt that both God and the Devil would reject these cold, soulless 'Incubators'); realizing that in his insanity, he had _murdered_ his wife and his youngest daughter for no real good reason; finding out that his final actions and words had completely broken Kyōko, his little girl losing all faith in God, justice, and compassion, becoming cruel and selfish out of the belief that using one's gifts to help people would only bring pain, trying to kill Mami Tomoe shortly after her 'fall' for trying to stop her only to pull back the fatal blow and warn the heartbroken older girl to never bother her again, and even now, freed from the Incubators' curse and having finally allowed herself to care for others again, the once cheery, friendly, and loving little girl he'd once known was still uncompromising, abrasive, foul-mouthed, pessimistic, coldly vicious in battle, and had such issues trusting people and allowing herself to show care for them that even Miki and Kamijō, her soulmates whom he could see genuinely loved her and wished to share their happiness with her, were unable to get too truly close to her past all the defenses around her heart. Even right now, he could see a face that once lit up with a smile now bearing a look of shock, fear, and heartbreak as it looked between him and the girl Miyako… which then shifted to an expression of feral, almost demonic rage as her tear-filled eyes focused on Ruin, her crimson hair starting to stand on end from her inherent Lightning magic.

His family, his mistakes, the pain he caused, _his baby girl_…

'Oh… Oh God in Heaven, what have I done? Lord, I confused the gift You gave my daughter to help people with for something of the Devil; in my madness I forsook You, _slaughtered_ my family, caused my sweet young daughter to reject her faith in You and live in selfish cruelty and loneliness… I shattered my daughter's faith, broke her heart, wounded her soul… I am no longer worthy to spread or even to speak Your word… I cannot even ask for her or Your forgiveness, for what I have done is too far beyond that…'

"So it has come to this…" Dune said. "Oh, well; at least this maybe gives me one more chance to turn the world into a beautiful, lifeless desert…"

"Itachi-san…" Kisame murmured, pensive. "Killing your clan to protect your country… I was a bit more like you than I thought. It seems you were another victim of the 'world of lies' I wanted to help Madara put an end to. …'Madara', hah! Obito; some poor Uchiha kid whose brain broke because he couldn't handle his crush's death, and it left him open for the _real_ Madara to put the pieces back together in a way he wanted them. Even the man – boy – who promised to help bring about a world of truth was operating under a giant lie; he only wanted to do it to bring his girl back from the dead, and the real Madara only wanted the personal power of making himself into a god. …And then, that Uzumaki brat goes ahead and actually _does_ it: gets the shinobi nations to forge a lasting, genuine peace with no more need for lies and betrayal, at least for now. Heh; maybe in the end I was on the wrong side…"

The three living enemies stepped forward, taking position amongst and slightly in front of the _Edo Tensei_ summons; Ruin was at the center, her little-girl body dwarfed by Dune and Kisame behind her, as she summoned her twin Dark Keyblades, while Malia summoned her weapon, revealing that rather than a standard DK it had transformed into a 'Rumble Rose' Keyblade. Amongst the heroes, everyone made ready. The HeartCatch girls prepared to divide their attention between their three adversaries, only for Vegeta to walk up beside them, facing their old foe.

"I will handle Dune" he told them. "Let's see how the 'King of Deserts' stands up against the Prince of Saiyans…"

"I guess we'll handle Yuri's father and sister, then" Cure Marine replied. "Be careful; Dune's a lot stronger than he looks."

"I know. So am I."

"Jorge…" Teana spoke up. "I'm sorry; I can't…"

"It's alright, Teana" the old Spartan replied. "Besides, with how strong you've gotten, you'd swat me like a fly if you got serious. You're probably better suited to one of the stronger summons here."

The orange-haired girl nodded, and then shifted her attention to the revived red-skinned alien, activating a Mirage Longsword and pointing it at him. "Darth Maul," she called out, "you are my opponent."

The Zabrak smirked. "By all means, girl, go ahead if you're so anxious to die."

"Big talk for someone who's unarmed" she retorted.

Ruin snapped her fingers, and an assortment of weapons magically appeared with every _Edo Tensei_ summon – kunai and other ninja weapons for those who used them, lightsabers for Dooku & Maul, two plasma swords for Fal Chavam, a dark-purple and grey version of Miyako's hammer for said girl, a combat scythe for Summer Rose, a sleek black crossbow for the 'Unknown Man', and for Kisame a darkened copy of _Samehada_. She and Karidé then poured Dark power into a few of the summons, giving them a boost and some Dark-magic combat abilities, while Jane Smythe's body seized and twisted as it physically grew by nine years, giving her the body of a young adult boosted by Darkness; her irises were now gold with Darkness corruption, as a purplish-red energy blade appeared in/over her right hand. She now directed a confident smirk at her old nemesis, who readied a blaster pistol and a plasma sword. Next to her, Dragovich underwent a similar age-up, his armor changing and growing along with his body.

"You were saying?" Darth Maul returned as he activated his double-ended red lightsaber.

"Now, my undead slaves…" Ruin called out, pointing one of her Dark Keyblades forward. "Let's shed some blood!"

(BATTLE MUSIC: _HeartCatch PreCure _OST 2 – "_Daigekisen_" (Great Fierce Battle))

The _Edo Tensei_ summons, along with the three living hostiles, moved forward to attack, and the DDF's people prepared to fight them. Dune shot forward toward Cure Blossom, only for Vegeta to appear in his path, blocking his strike and then lashing out with a counter-blow that sent Dune flying, with Vegeta moving in close pursuit. Dune regained control and met Vegeta's punch with his own, engaging the Saiyan Prince in a rapid duel of blows.

Ruin and the Testarossa Triplets rushed toward each other, only for Tiida to appear in-between, staring down Ruin (and down _at _her, due to the height difference).

"I'll handle her" he told the girls. "You three help with the others."

Fate and her sisters nodded, and moved off to other fights. Ruin tried to get past her foe, but he wouldn't let her.

"Hah!" she said. "What can a _side character_ hope to do against me?"

Tiida smirked, his Sharingan whirling to life. "Let's find out."

Ahsoka put all she had into blocking or dodging Dooku's masterful strikes; thanks to access to _Star Wars_ data from universes where her 'verse was fiction, she now knew of Dooku's well-intentioned initial motivations, and through the Force she could sense that he didn't really want to fight her, the Dark Side's grip on his mind having noticeably loosened compared to when he was alive, but the _Edo Tensei_ was forcing him to, and she was having to give it her all to keep up with the old Master. Meanwhile, Teana had fast flown into her duel with Darth Maul, and she was realizing that maybe she might've bitten off a bit more than she could chew against the experienced, well-trained, and aggressive Sith warrior. Thankfully, her Sharingan's predictive capabilities combined with her 'Combat Precognition' (the only Force-based power she had) to allow her to anticipate his blows and dodge or block them, but she was in constant motion, and had yet to put him on the defensive.

Madoka, Sayaka, Homura, and Kyōko quadruple-teamed Malia, who quickly forced several of the revived 'cannon fodder' shinobi to jump to her defense. _Edo_-Miyako got involved as well, and Homura broke off to engage her one-on-one. Homura formed and threw a fireball at the revived Miyako, who conjured an Ice Shield that blocked it, partially melting. She returned fire with a barrage of ice spikes, which were blocked by Homura's shield. Meanwhile, Madoka and Malia fought, clashing Keyblades and bolts of Light & Darkness, occasionally helped or attacked by the _Edo-_shinobi or Kyōko & Sayaka. Malia gathered her magic and thrusted her right palm forward, and out from it shot a vine with a very sharp wooden tip, spearing right for Madoka's chest. Suddenly Sayaka was there, using her sword to block the stab, while at the same time Kyōko's spear-blade severed the vine near its base; Malia let the stump of the conjured vine drop away from her hand, and then gripped her Rumble Rose and charged in again.

A large fireball and a shark made of water smashed into each other in mid-air, canceling each other out. Edo-Kisame rushed in, using the dark copy of Samehada to try and hammer away at Itachi's defense, only for the Uchiha prodigy's Stage-0 _Susanō_ arms to block each blow, the spectral summon's unique properties protecting it from the living sword's chakra-draining effect. Itachi rushed in close between swings and went for a debilitating kunai stab, only for Kisame to block with a kunai in his free hand. The two jumped back, and Kisame threw two exploding tags at Itachi, only for the Uchiha to use _Kamui_, freshly taught to him by Kakashi, to warp the explosives away (as previously stated in other Books, only Kakashi and Obito could actually warp themselves or 'phase' parts of themselves into the _Kamui_'s realm, but warping other objects or people into or out of it could be taught to anyone with a Mangekyō, as Teana has demonstrated). Itachi then seemingly summoned a small flock of crows that flew at Kisame, only for the 'birds' to transform into large shuriken. Kisame blocked or dodged most of them, but one cut across/through his shoulder, the paper-like scraps & pieces of his _Edo Tensei_ body quickly beginning to repair the damage. He looked back at his opponent, and now saw Itachi rapidly weaving hand-seals, while the water of a pond behind him surged.

"Hey Kisame, stop me if you've heard this one. _Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu_!"

A large dragon made of water with glowing yellow eyes flew up out of the pond and then soared through the air toward Kisame, roaring. Kisame grinned and brought Dark Samehada back, and with a mighty swing he cut through the beast's head, dispelling the technique, his living sword consuming much of the chakra making it up.

"Come on, Itachi-san" Kisame said. "I know you're way stronger than this. And I know your new body's perfectly healthy, has chakra reserves half again as big as your old one, _and_ you've got the EMS. Stop going easy on me; if the _Edo Tensei_ makes me get serious, you'll have to go all-out and even then you might need some help."

"Very well, old friend" Itachi said, and then rushed in again, a skeletal _Susanō _arm brought back for a crushing giant-fist punch. "Let's take this up a level!"

Two Sangheili warriors were in a furious duel, limbs and plasma swords striking out with the skill and speed that came with decades of experience, as the two most martially-skilled Arbiters to ever hold the title tested each other's mettle. So far, Fal Chavam was impressed; Thel was able to keep up with every one of his movements, and he was giving as good as he got. Chavam decided to turn things up, putting more skill and strength into his attacks, only for Vadam to quickly & smoothly respond in kind, still matching him blow for blow.

'A gifted peacemaker _and_ a skilled warrior in equal measure…' Fal thought. 'This one truly represents what an Arbiter should be…'

Aqua cast Reflega to block a barrage of exploding cards thrown at her by her current adversary. The instant she dropped the shield, Joker was in her face again, and she brought the Master Keeper up to block his sword. She blocked a few more blows and then pressed forward, putting him on the defensive, and the evil harlequin stepped back as he defended, giving ground. He thrusted his palm forward and pointed it at Aqua's face, charging a Darkness blast, only for Aqua to duck and kick his arm upward, making the shot sail off harmlessly, and then in the same motion pointed the tip of her Keyblade at his chest. He twisted to the side just as a piercing beam of Light magic shot out from it, and then cart-wheeled away a few meters. Upon coming out of that, he then back-flipped away to avoid a blast of Ice magic aimed at his feet, and returned fire with a ball of flame he spat out at Aqua, who used her Keyblade to cleave the fireball in two when it was close. Gripping their blades, they charged each other again.

As Cure Sunshine and Cure Marine kept the revived Professor Tsukikage busy, Blossom and Moonlight engaged _Edo Tensei_ Dark PreCure. The two Cures were able to keep up with Dark, with Moonlight actually putting her on the defensive at some points. In addition, from Dark's expressions and mannerism whenever her jutsu-controlled body attacked, it was clear to them she didn't want to be doing this, didn't want to fight them anymore; she'd found peace and let go of her anger at the moment of her death, only to have that taken away from her, a helpless passenger trapped in her own out-of-control body. She had actually called out warnings to Tsubomi when her body tried to catch the girl off-guard in a sneak attack a few times. Meanwhile, Sunshine and Marine fought hard against Dark & Yuri's resurrected father; Cure Sunshine used a Sunflower Aegis to block a blast of crimson energy from hitting Marine, who then unleashed a Marine Shooter, bombarding the revived man with blue energy bolts.

Weiss cast a Glyph Shield to protect Yang from a scythe-strike from Edo-Summer, allowing Blake to land a few blows with her blade, forcing the revived woman to get some distance while her body repaired itself. Ruby did her best to fight down the pain and reluctantly started firing shots at her 'super-zombie' mother, only for the woman to dodge the shots and flash-step towards her, and Ruby barely managed to bring her Crescent Rose up in time to block the attack.

"I'm sorry, honey" Summer Rose said, even as her enemy-controlled body tried to out-muscle Ruby's defense. "I'm _so_ sorry. I never wanted any of this to happen! I never wanted to leave you!"

"Then why _did_ you?-!" Ruby finally snapped, deep-seated issues coming to the surface. "How could you let yourself get killed by a bunch of Grimm and leave me?-!"

"I wasn't killed by the Grimm, Ruby! That mission, I managed to take out all the Grimm that attacked me. But then, right after I finished them off, someone attacked me – not a Grimm, but a person, a woman. She was so powerful, and I was caught off-guard and exhausted from killing the Grimm. She had powers I'd never seen before, and I… I just wasn't able to survive against her."

Yang came in just as Ruby's defense was about to fail, landing a blow that forced Edo-Summer back. "Wait," she said, "so you weren't killed by the Grimm? You were _murdered_?"

"Yes, Yang" Summer replied. "I have no idea who she was, but she was stronger than anyone I'd ever fought, and I was weakened and tired from taking out all the Grimm immediately beforehand. Whoever she is, she's bad news; I wish I knew more about her so I could tell you girls…"

Any further conversation was cut off as the _Edo Tensei_ forced her to attack again.

Melody & Ishtar were engaged in a fierce 2-on-2 battle against Smythe & Dragovich, and the combination of an age-up and a Darkness boost made the two revived enemies a slightly tougher fight than the Phoenix League's two stars expected. Mel used her plasma sword to duel against Smythe's arm-blade, her old enemy displaying surprising skill; perhaps her 'upgrade' included a knowledge dump. Meanwhile, Ishtar and Dragovich were close in, trying to blast each other with their big guns while simultaneously dodging or slapping aside each other's shots.

Elsewhere, Kaede K. and Reisen were double-teaming Karidé, trying to overwhelm Kaede's Darkness as she put up quite a fight. Reisen fired a wave of magic bolts that flew in random patterns before abruptly converging on Karidé, only for the Diclonius-Unversed to use her red, claw-tipped vectors to block them. Karidé then shot two of her dark vectors toward the rabbit-_yōkai_, but Kaede yanked Reisen out of the way while spearing one of her own vectors out toward her dark-half. Karidé threw herself to the side, and the slicing vector left a long and shallow cut across her upper arm, which 'bled' Darkness particles instead of blood. The evil entity snarled as she leapt back, firing a wave of Darkness bolts at the duo.

Two powerful Lightning mages flew through the sky, exchanging blows and blasts. Fate, now in her adult form, cast a powerful Shield spell that blocked the _Dios Tukos_ from Averruncus Secundum, and then she returned fire with a sizable Photon Lancer barrage. The resurrected construct surrounded himself in a powerful Wind-based barrier spell that narrowly managed to protect him from the golden energy bolts, and then he sent its energies forward as a wave of slicing wind magic. Fate flash-stepped out of the way, attacking Secundum from the side with a kick that crashed into the side of his ribs, followed by a swing of Bardiche's energy scythe that took off his arm. He flashed backward, glaring at her as he waited for the _Edo Tensei_ to repair his arm, firing _Sagitta Magica_ to keep her back as he did so.

Edo-Dynamis was being engaged by three DDF mages at once; he brought his arms up to shield his face from a barrage of golden magic-musket shots from Mami, and was then blindsided by a Vibration Shatter to the torso from Subaru, which knocked him back into a Keyblade slash from Erika S. As his reanimated body repaired itself, Dynamis threw out several spearing shadow tendrils from within his cloak, forcing the three girls to shield and thereby giving his body time to finish repairing. He flew low and fast over the ground towards them, using Rune Shields to block a Strike Raid from Erika and another few bolts from Mami. He lashed out with a momentum-aided punch at Subaru, who skidded back a few meters as she took it. Dynamis was then surprised to see that she had actually caught the blow with her hands, which were glowing with blue chakra. A blue aura surged to life around her, her irises turning bright blue as the pupils changed, her canine teeth elongating.

'Another Tailed-Beast Host?' Dynamis thought.

Using a "small" portion of Fenris' power, Subaru yanked Dynamis down into a punch to the face that knocked him back a considerable distance while shattering his mask. After a few seconds he got back on his feet, his face visibly repairing itself as his black-sclera eyes glared at the three girls. Then, he focused his energies, and his power level jumped as he assumed his "Mighty General Battle Mode", jet-black and covered in large bone-white spikes, with a new mask and a second, much larger and more muscular pair of arms in addition to his regular ones. He let out a quiet chuckle, and then charged.

Two youths engaged the resurrected Jorge-052; Kyōsuke's magic gauntlets and Sarah's special brand of chakra-based physical enhancement enabled them to match the Spartan in raw strength, but the warrior's experience and hard-earned skill meant that they were giving it all they had to keep up with him. Kyōsuke landed an electrically-charged uppercut that drained the _Edo Tensei_ Spartan's shields, and then fired several blaster bolts point-blank into his torso. Sarah then smashed Edo-Jorge from the side with her gravity hammer, knocking him away several feet. After a few seconds, the armored giant stood up, his revived body repairing itself. Behind his helmet, he smirked; these kids were pretty good. He just hoped they'd be good enough to stop him…

The 'Unknown Man' growled as he yet again tried to get distance and let his body repair itself. There were so many ripe young girls (and a few boys) on this battlefield, but he couldn't get to any of them thanks to Twilight-Link. The youth had quickly come to his younger counterpart's aid when the Unknown Man tried to go for him, singling the UM out as his opponent, and the plentiful skill and experience he'd picked up in his comparatively-short life allowed him to easily keep the evil man at bay, dodging or blocking his crossbow shots and dealing one debilitating or 'fatal' blow after another, such that the Unknown Man's _Edo Tensei_ body was in a near-constant damaged state. Having seen what kind of man this guy was thanks to 'archival footage', Twilight-Link was _not_ going to let him get past and anywhere near the younger fighters.

Everyone else handled the 'cannon fodder'. The Suite and Smile Cures relied on melee strikes, eschewing magic attacks so as to conserve their energy, just in case. Sunset's chainsaw-staff cut a resurrected Iwa shinobi in two, putting him out of the fight for the time it'd take his _Edo Tensei_ body to pull itself together. Alicia & Laicixa double-teamed a pair of resurrected Kumo-shinobi swordsmen brothers, while Marie fired a Seeker Shot that downed three of Madara's Konoha-shinobi victims and also hit Edo-Mr. Sakura. Timmy and Erio's lightning-based fist and spear blows were useful against a few resurrected Kiri-shinobi, Caro and Anya used fire-bolts to blast some dead Suna-shinobi, Mariko and Kyōko were presently handling a few gun-toting _ET_s and a particularly formidable Iwa shinobi who'd fallen to the 10-Tails, and Young-Link, Goten, & Trunks worked in concert to handle a few more revived shinobi.

Up above, Dune and Vegeta continued their clash. Red and purple energy blasts were exchanged along with physical blows, and at the moment it looked like Dune had the advantage. The Desert King slapped aside a _ki_ blast from Vegeta, rushing in with great speed and dealing a heavy blow that sent the Saiyan Prince flying back. Dune flew in close pursuit, lashing out with a knee blow to Vegeta's gut, only for the Saiyan warrior to catch the blow with a grunt. Dune was then caught by surprise as a golden light enveloped Vegeta's body, the warrior's black hair and eyebrows turning golden-yellow, his dark-grey eyes becoming a pupiless teal color. Dune jumped back, eyeing the golden aura that now surged around Vegeta, who gave his opponent a calm smirk.

"Well done" Vegeta said. "I didn't think you'd push me far enough to need to go Super Saiyan. You should feel proud of yourself. Now… let's see who has the advantage _this_ time."

Then, quicker than Dune could react, so quick he barely even saw it, Vegeta flashed forward and dealt a blow that sent Dune hurtling through the air, a hole punched halfway through his _Edo Tensei_ body. The Saiyan Prince rapidly closed in, dealing a barrage of lightning-fast blows that further damaged the revived 'Desert King', finishing with a point-blank _ki_ blast that sent him hurtling down into a rock formation, which shattered from the impact. After several seconds, Dune burst free of the rubble, shooting up into the air as his body repaired itself, and the second round of the fight continued.

Tiida and Ruin broke from another clash, stopping a few meters away from each other and staring each other down. Ruin was ticked; she'd underestimated this guy. He seemed to be fighting defensively most of the time, but what a defense it was! She hadn't even managed to land a blow on him yet, thanks to his startlingly durable Shield spells, earthen walls, and clever application of his _Susanō_. And the few times he _did_ attack, it took all she had to shield against or dodge it. Ruin's power level was actually only a little above what Fate's had been at age 12, when Ruin was created, but she made up for that with viciousness, clever combat tricks, and well-honed skill with her Keyblades such that she could overcome sword-wielders who were technically more powerful than her. But Tiida was skilled, too; if not using full-sized shields, he was using small Rune Shields projected over his forearms or hands to block her blade strikes, and then try to bash her with them. His Sharingan allowed him to read and predict her movements, and his natural Uchiha speed enabled him to keep up with them.

"Damn it" she snarled. "Are you mocking me?-! You've barely launched any attacks, just stood there and tanked everything I hit you with! You're not even taking me seriously, are you?-! Are you even gonna attack me?"

Tiida gave a little smirk. "All right, then" he replied. "I'll do so."

And then, faster than Ruin could react, he flashed forward and landed a rising knee to her gut. She let out a squeak of breath, eyes and mouth wide.

'H-How… is he as strong as he is tough?' she thought.

A kick sent Ruin rolling away, as she learned the hard way that, in addition to his formidable defense, thanks to recent training and 'upgrades' Tiida's already-high power level was now as high as Fate's, only slightly below Nanoha and Teana. Ruin coughed as she got back to her feet, and then snarled and charged her Dark Keyblades with black Lightning energy, charging in again.

The fight between Team RWBY and Edo-Summer had drifted close enough to the one between Madoka & Sayaka and Malia that the combatants started switching around, Sayaka helping out against Mrs. Rose while Blake used her speed and her blade to push Malia back a bit. Malia seemed to have gotten angrier as she fought the heroes, and it was only partially from frustration; Madoka could sense something deep in her opponent's Heart, though she couldn't quite place it. Growling, Malia focused her magic into her mouth and blew out a large cloud of what appeared to be pollen, enveloping Madoka. Madoka held her breath in case it was poisonous… and then Malia clicked her teeth, and the 'pollen' instantly combusted. After a couple seconds, Madoka leapt out of the cloud of flames and smoke, her magic having protected her (though a few bits of her outfit were smoldering), only to see that Malia had rushed for where Ruby and her revived mother were fighting, aiming for the girl who'd killed her Nobody. As the two hood-wearing combatants locked blades, pushing against each other, Summer Rose suddenly felt a hand pressed against her back, sensed a flare of what felt like Aura and heard a called-out incantation of sorts:

"_Mokuton: Sashiki no Jutsu_!"

The spear of wood tore straight through Summer's _Edo Tensei_ body, and Ruby was sent flying back, eyes wide, as it punched through her central torso, just below her chest. Everyone watched in horror as things seemed to move in slow motion, Malia moving her hands in preparation to make the hand-sign that would cause the conjured wood to expand and branch out, tearing through Ruby's body… When all of a sudden, a sandal-clad foot kicked Malia away, and at the same time a red-haired figure caught Ruby mid-flight and lowered her safely to the ground. The wood-spear was pulled out of her, and immediately she was 'compelled' to bite down on the arm offered to her, healing chakra flowing through her and causing her wound to cease bleeding and begin rapidly healing. The healer's three teammates landed beside each other, standing between her and the enemy.

"Sorry we're a bit late" Suigetsu said, giving a pointy-toothed grin as he hefted a greatsword (not Zabuza's old weapon – Kakashi still had that one – but a comparatively-smaller one that was easier for someone Suigetsu's size to wield). "Traffic sucked."

"So another enemy has _Edo Tensei_…" Jūgo mused.

"Karin," Sasuke said, "once you're finished healing Rose, go help against the resurrected shinobi. Jūgo, Suigetsu, pick a big-name target and pitch in. I'll go help my cousin against the Sith Lord she's pissed off."

Sasuke then leapt into the duel between Teana and Maul, charging his sword with Lightning chakra and slashing the resurrected Sith warrior across the back with it. Maul snarled as he brought his double-ended lightsaber back in an attempt to stab the boy, only for Sasuke to twist out of the way and flash-step a short distance to Teana's side, the two cousins sharing a nod. Suigetsu & Jūgo went off to fight Prof. Tsukikage, allowing Cures Marine & Sunshine to aid Blossom & Moonlight against the resurrected Dark Cure. Finally, once Ruby was completely healed, Karin helped her to her feet, checked that the clothing damage didn't endanger the girl's modesty, and then moved out to help handle the cannon fodder. Ruby reloaded Crescent Rose and then rushed back into the fight.

Presently, one member of Team Madoka was in a fight that she never wanted to be in, but now that she was in it she was releasing a huge amount of built-up pain and anger at her hapless target.

"You bastard!" she slashed a deep cut across her revived father's chest. "How could you do that to me?-! I never hurt anyone! I gave all I had to protect people from Witches! I never knew what the Incubators had done to me! I thought I was doing God's work! I wanted to be something you could be proud of, a warrior of light and justice! But instead you branded me a demon! And then you took my family from me!-!"

Kyōko finished a barrage of strikes with one that nearly cut the resurrected Mr. Sakura in half, leaving him splayed out on the ground against a rock as his _Edo Tensei_ body tried to repair itself. Even with Ruin's dark magic involuntarily boosting his out-of-control body, he was no match for the girl. Her staff, separated into chain-bound segments, coiled around his limbs and body, finishing with the spearhead stuck down through his chest, forming a sort of primitive sealing technique to arrest his movements. As she stalked toward him, he looked up at her with unshed tears in his black-sclera eyes.

"Kyōko…" he murmured, his voice of sorrow and regret. "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry? _Sorry?-!_" she screeched, holding back her own tears. "'Sorry' won't undo all the things you did and said to me! 'Sorry' won't take away all the pain and loneliness and hatred that's consumed me ever since that day! _'SORRY' WON'T BRING BACK MY BABY SISTER OR MY MOMMY!-!_"

"I don't know what else to say… and I don't at all blame you for not accepting it. I… am not worthy to be called your father. The things I've done are beyond any forgiveness from anyone. I know now I was dead-wrong, that I hurt my child in ways that can never be pardoned. I know that you hate me now, as you should. And I know that nothing I could say or do could ever make things right. But… just… I'm so sorry…"

Kyōko gritted her teeth, an angry sob escaping as her fists clenched and crackled with Lightning power, tears starting to stream down her pained and angry face. She stumbled forward, holding her head between her hands and letting out pained whimpers. She fell to her knees and her mouth opened as those whimpers grew, until she tossed her head back and let out a long, loud screech/howl of pain, anger, and grief that echoed out, and then she finally collapsed forward, pounding the ground with her fist a few times as she began sobbing loud and hard, curled up on herself as she cried. Trapped by the spear-seal and the _Edo Tensei_, Mr. Sakura was helpless as his daughter broke down right next to him, unable to do anything for the girl he'd already caused far too much pain.

"_Katon: Gōka Messhitsu_!"

Itachi's powerful focused Fire attack overpowered the three Water Sharks that Edo-Kisame had sent at him, before then engulfing the shark-man himself. After the flames were cut off, Itachi stood and watched as the burnt scraps of dust and 'paper' quickly coalesced, reforming into Kisame. The shark-man gripped Dark-Samehada and rushed forward, riding atop a foot-high mass of water and racing toward Itachi, moving to the side to dodge a few more fireballs. He got close and swung, only for his sword to be blocked by the _Yata no Kagami_ shield wielded by a spectral red arm, while another formed a curved sword and slashed him with it, cutting him in half. Even as Edo-Kisame's two halves tumbled away, his upper half formed hand-seals and spat out another _Suikōdan_ at Itachi, who leapt a few meters to the side to dodge it.

"_Tiro Finalé_!"

The point-blank blast from directly behind blew Dynamis' larger right arm off. As his _Edo Tensei_ body began trying to repair itself, he got caught in the face by a giant chakra claw from 1-Tailed-Form Subaru, sending him tumbling end over end a fair distance. What's more, as soon as he hopped back to his feet he got bombarded by a Prism Rain barrage from Erika. He growled; these kids were starting to get annoying. Meanwhile, up above, Averruncus Secundum was well past annoyed as Fate Testarossa-Harlaown continued to best him, dodging or overpowering everything he tried to hit her with and striking with such speed and force that even the few times he reacted fast enough to Shield, she broke through and hit him anyway. Forming a spear of lightning and gripping it tight, he let out a war cry as he charged in, and Fate readied Bardiche Zanbar and moved to meet him.

The two Arbiters' duel continued. Both warriors moved with speed and agility that belied their size. Scorched slash-marks marred the ground, surrounding rocks, and a felled tree. Plasma swords clashed again and again, the two Sangheili seeming to be evenly matched at first glance, but upon closer inspection Thel Vadam, the living member of the two, had a slight upper hand, as he'd had for most of the fight. Fal Chavam was more and more impressed by his successor… but there was but one trick he had left. He was loathe to use it, knowing it would likely kill the brave soul who sought to bring peace and prosperity to their people, but his _Edo Tensei_ body was acting without his control. He scowled as his body rushed in close, striking from odd angles, and Arbiter Vadam did his best to block them, unaware that he was being set up. Suddenly, after another lightning-fast exchange of blows, Chavam feinted a few times, striking with seeming randomness that abruptly channeled into a stabbing blow inward aimed at Vadam's neck…

…Only for Thel to, using Chavam's own leg as leverage, duck down to avoid the blow, and counter with a heavy slash and a kick that sent the older Arbiter tumbling back. As Fal struggled to his feet, he was stunned; out of hundreds of foes in his life, _nobody_ had ever survived that combination. After a few seconds, he hung his head, a smile on his face. Thel rushed in, swords ready to deal another blow…

"Stop, Vadam."

[MUSIC: _HeartCatch _OST 2 – "_Hikari to Yami no Sōkoku_ (Conflict/Rivalry of Light and Darkness)"]

…And then skidded to a halt before Fal's held-out hand. The older Arbiter looked up, an approving smile on his face.

"I've seen enough, brother" he said. "Enough to know that you truly are a worthy Arbiter."

Fal's body began to slowly lose color, flakes of dust breaking away, and Thel remembered a crucial fact about _Edo Tensei_: if a bound soul received closure, had any lingering regrets lifted, the soul would be set free. He stood down as his ancestor looked to him.

"You… are something unique, Vadam" Chavam said. "A Sangheili who lives by honor – not the false 'honor' that the Prophets preached, but _true_ honor – strength of heart, courage, wisdom, and even more important things… Not only are you one of the finest warriors I have ever seen, you stand a better chance than anyone of bringing peace and unity not just to our people, but between our people and our former foes. I understand now that our people are in good hands, that there is no doubt that we will become honorable, prosperous, strong, and wise under your guidance. With the Prophets' end my honor and that of my Keep has been restored, and I can now see the greatness that lies ahead for my people, greatness that you will help usher in."

"…You honor me with your praise, ancestor" Thel said.

"I speak but the truth. You are a true Arbiter… and now, I have no more doubts, or regrets. I go now, to rejoin our brothers, and my mate. I leave the future of the Sangheili in your hands, Arbiter Thel Vadam. Farewell, and may the gods guide you every step of the way."

With that, Fal Chavam's resurrected body crumbled away into dust, his spectral form briefly visible rising into the sky, looking down on Thel, before it too vanished. Thel nodded to and saluted his ancestor.

(MUSIC'S STILL GOING)

Meanwhile, the four HeartCatch PreCures continued their fight against the resurrected Dark PreCure.

"N-No… more…" Dark murmured. "I… I couldn't save father… I couldn't accept my sibling… I…" She looked up at the girls, who were startled by the pain on her face. "I don't want to do this anymore! I don't want to fight you, Moonlight!"

"…What _do_ you want?" Yuri/Moonlight asked.

"All I ever wanted… was to be accepted by father. And in the end, he did just that – he accepted you _and_ me. I was able to die in peace. But now… knowing that he's dead, too, and I'm being forced to fight you again… I… I don't want to be 'Dark PreCure' anymore! I want to stop fighting! I… I want a normal life, as a good person, a _whole_ person, free of Darkness and pain! I want to be able to call you family! But… But I can't… because I'm _dead_! I lost my chance at happiness and freedom! And now I can't even rest in peace, I've been forced back to fight on behalf of monsters! I… I can't take this… it hurts too much… PreCures… _Onée-san_…" Tears fell from her eyes, which lost their golden color, turning blue. "Please… help me…"

"Dark…" Yuri/Moonlight murmured, feeling emotion well up within her. Cure Marine was teary-eyed, and Sunshine & Blossom weren't much better.

(MUSIC END)

"This technique… _Edo Tensei_… is too horrible" Cure Blossom said. "To disturb the dead of their peaceful rest, and force them to hurt the people they care about… I…"

Dark Cure cried out in despaired shock as her body lunged toward the girls, Dark Tact readied to strike like a lethal sword…"

"I… _I can't stand this anymore!-!_" ("_Kanninbukuro no O ga Kiremashita!_")

There was a sudden flare of white light that appeared in Dark Cure's path, shoving her back. It faded to reveal the HeartCatch Mirage. The ancient mystical high-magic item floated down into Cure Blossom's hands, and the other three Cures gathered around. They nodded to each other, and then turned to face their unwilling foe.

"Dark-san…" Cure Blossom said. "I promise… No matter how, no matter what… We will save you!"

(MUSIC: _HeartCatch_ OST 2 – "HeartCatch Orchestra")

The ancient mirror-like tool shone its light out, as the girls gathered around it, and the surrounding light seemed to change, swirling with colors.

"_Kagami, o, kagami, PreCure ni chikara o_!"

The four buttons were pressed and the charging wheel was spun, and everything around seemed to change; now, it was like the girls were floating in a beautiful void-realm of starry sky and flowers. They spun around the HeartCatch Mirage as its light brightened, until the light enveloped them. Jewels shot out from the device as light, attaching to the four Cures' bodies, and their whole outfits glowed bright with power. In four flashes of light, the girls emerged in shining white versions of their Cure outfits, extensions like sharp flower petals from their shoulders and skirts.

"_Sekai ni kagayaku ichinen no hana! HeartCatch PreCure: Super Silhouette_!"

Glowing white heart-shaped wings emerged from the girls' backs. The HeartCatch Mirage glowed again, floating above the girls' heads as they held their weapons high.

"_Hana yo, sakihokore!_"

The Mirage erupted into a pillar of light, which became a gigantic spectral figure of a woman in a long white dress, with long glowing-pink hair and armored white-and-gold gauntlets on her hands. Cures Blossom, Marine, Sunshine, and Moonlight called out, pouring all their energy into the attack as they shot it forth:

"_PRECURE: HEARTCATCH ORCHESTRA!-!-!-!_"

The giant spectral woman flew forward through the starry realm, flying up close to and towering over Edo-Dark Cure. Her right gauntlet glowed bright pink as extremely powerful purification magic was channeled into and through it. Then, with a grandiose movement, she brought it crashing down onto Dark Cure, enveloping her in light. When it faded, she was stretched out, held up by four overlapping 'flowers' of light. They spun and spun as they lifted her into the air, held between the specter's hands, which were held in a heart-shape in front of her chest. Finally, there was a brilliant, blinding flash of beautiful light enveloping everything, with Dark Cure at the center.

When the light faded, everything seemed to have returned to normal, though much of the fights had stopped to stare. A large sphere of light slowly drifted down toward the ground, where the four HeartCatch Cures were now standing. The light shrunk down into the shape of a person, who was gently set down into Cure Moonlight's arms, fading to reveal a girl around a year or two younger than Yuri, wearing a charcoal-grey dress, with pale skin and dull-green hair. She stirred, opening eyes of a clear, pure blue and with normal white sclera.

"_O…née-san…_?" she murmured.

Yuri gasped, feeling tears build in her eyes, as she set herself and the girl down, reaching a hand and holding it to the girl's chest, feeling a heartbeat. After a few seconds, she gave a tearful smile and hugged the smaller girl.

"My… little sister…" she whispered.

The break in the action did not last long, as the other fights resumed. Over with the Sakuras, Kyōko was still on the ground, still letting out quiet sniffles and sobs, though she was 'winding down', so to speak. She looked up and around, her eyes red and cheeks tear-streaked, having felt the burst of power that accompanied the HeartCatch girls' ultimate attack. She turned to look at her bound & pinned _Edo Tensei_ father, but still couldn't bear to look at him for too long, the action triggering a few fresh tears.

"Mmm~, that's some good despair you're giving off!"

Kyōko let out a short scream, startled by the voice from directly behind her, and spun to her feet, backing away. The _Edo Tensei_ of Joker, the Smile Cures' twisted old nemesis, stood looking down at her, a malicious grin on his masked face. He chuckled, arms folded.

"You…" Kyōko growled. "What happened to Aqua-san?"

The villainous harlequin gestured his thumb over to the side, pointing to where Aqua was gritting her teeth and struggling to break free of the veritable cocoon of purple magic Binds holding her.

"I'll admit," Joker said, "she outclasses me – besides matching me in raw magical power, her skill with that Keyblade, as well as said weapon's nature, means I was at a disadvantage. Had she been around when I was alive, I actually doubt I would have survived a fight with her. But, when the other PreCures set off that little light show, she let herself be distracted, even if for just a moment, and that was all I need to Bind her and run like the dickens. Ah, but then I sensed the negative emotions rolling off of _you_, my dear, and I just _had_ to be the curious cat and come investigate!"

The little redhead growled, her fists crackling with lightning. "You want some of this?" she growled.

Edo-Joker laughed. "Oh, and what can you do against me, especially without your weapon?"

Kyōko charged, unleashing a flurry of electrified melee attacks, but Joker chuckled as he dodged them all, her state of weaponless-ness and emotional exhaustion taking its toll on her ability. Finally, he caught her by the wrist, and she cried out as he broke her left forearm. He then pulled her down into a rising knee that knocked the breath out of her, making her double over, and then backhanded her hard enough to send her tumbling a few meters. He walked over to her, standing on her right arm and pinning her, looking down at her with glowing red eyes as he conjured a purple sword that crackled with dark power.

"Now then, little firebrand," he said, holding the sword high and ready to stab, "scream for me!"

Things seemed to move in slow motion from Mr. Sakura's perspective, as he saw the blade coming down toward his daughter's heart. He reached out and up with his thoughts, desperate:

'O Father, who art in Heaven… I know that I do not deserve to pray to You. I allowed short-sightedness and narrow-mindedness led me away from You. I committed horrible sins unto my family. I know that, though just and merciful You are, I do not deserve Your forgiveness. But please… Please, God, just this once… If not for me, than for Kyōko… Please, give me a way to save my daughter!'

As the tip of Joker's blade, wreathed in magic meant to trigger every pain receptor in one's body, neared Kyōko's chest, there was a burst of pure Light from nearby, and an instant later a fist impacted the evil harlequin's face from the side, sending him hurtling away with great force. After a few seconds he got back onto his feet, the side of his head repairing itself, and gasped at what he saw.

Mr. Sakura stood tall, his suit having turned white, his eyes glowing with a golden-white energy that also suffused Kyōko's spear-staff which was in his hand. A wavering white aura surrounded him, as he bent down and gently touched his daughter's left arm, and the girl felt a pleasant warmth as the bone was instantaneously mended. He held out her spear over her, she reached up and grabbed it, and he used that to pull her up to her feet, handing the weapon to her. She looked up at him, eyes wide with shock, as somehow, on a level she couldn't quite understand, she knew what this all meant. Seconds later, there was a burst of magic released, followed by Aqua leaping in and standing amongst the two.

"Sorry that took me so long" she said. "This clown's Bind spell was stronger than I thought."

Joker growled as he readied his sword and a hand full of his cards. In response, Aqua readied the Master Keeper, Mr. Sakura conjured a pure-white sword, and Kyōko realized that the same 'Holy' energy/magic carried by the two weapons was – for the moment, at least – infused into her spear. Steeling herself, she took a ready stance. Aqua rushed in first, followed shortly by Kyōko and then the third member of the group. Edo-Joker threw several exploding cards at them, only for Aqua's Reflega spell to block them. Mr. Sakura swung his blade, releasing a slicing wave of Light that crashed against the evil harlequin's quick-summoned shield, almost piercing through it. Kyōko reached him first, slashing out with the blade of her spear, matching blades with his dark sword. Aqua joined in, and the two quickly overwhelmed him and dealt some solid blows, his _Edo Tensei_ body quickly trying to repair itself.

Mr. Sakura ran in next, firing a bolt of Light at Joker, who fired a matching Darkness bolt that was immediately 'shoved' aside, forcing him to dodge the blast. Joker then rushed in with fist cocked back, but the man caught the harlequin's punch, and then pulled him into a blow of his own that knocked Joker heels-over-head. Aqua fired a Blizzaga spell that Joker countered with a fireball from his mouth, but then he was hit by a single Lightning-type _Sagitta Magica_ right between the legs, followed by a barrage of staff blows from Kyōko, and then the young girl jumped back, channeling her power into her weapon. And the instant she moved forward, a long-lost spell finally came back to her, long-awaited emotional catharsis finally allowing her to use her signature spell once more:

"_Rosso Fantasma!_"

Three more Kyōkos appeared, and as the four dashed in they all slashed at Edo-Joker at once in an 'X' formation, making the evil harlequin cry out as he collapsed to his knees, his _Edo Tensei_ body nearly coming apart. Kyōko and her three magic duplicates leapt back, taking a stance together. After a few seconds, Joker staggered to his feet, panting, as his body kept repairing itself.

"This… This is ridiculous…" he panted out. "What happened to your despair?"

The redhead didn't deign to give him an answer. He growled, but then his expression changed to something of curiosity. The three warriors (or six, depending on how one looks at it) looked on in confusion as Joker tilted his head and put a hand to his ear, as if listening to something only he could hear. After several seconds, he smiled. He took a few steps back from the group, and then allowed himself to tip over backward… falling into and through a roiling dark portal that suddenly appeared on the ground behind him, swallowing him up and then vanishing.

"That… might not be as good a thing as it appears to be" Kyōko said, as her duplicates dispelled.

"Anyway… Let's help the others out" Aqua said.

"Right behind you" the now-in-control-of-himself Mr. Sakura replied.

"Damn it!" Ruin snarled, in the midst of her battle with Tiida. "This! Isn't! Happening!" she stomped her little feet with each word. "One _Edo Tensei_ let go and passed on, one returned to life, one broken free from my control, one vanished and taken off by who-knows-what to who-knows-where… What the hell is going on?-!" She turned her attention to Tiida, who had a sly grin. "_Stop smirking at me!-!_" she screeched at him, channeling dark lightning power into her Keyblades. "I'll cut your face off!" She charged him again.

More fights continued. Thanks to the boost from his Super Saiyan form, Vegeta was now outclassing Dune with style, shrugging off or outright deflecting everything the 'King of Deserts' threw at him while dealing blows that kept Dune's _Edo Tensei_ body in a near-constant state of self-repair. Homura's experience, speed, power, and Fire affinity enabled her to keep up with Edo-Miyako, keeping her old comrade on the defensive. Kaede and Reisen continued to assail Karidé, forcing her to give ground at a few points to avoid being overtaken. Kyōsuke and Sarah kept Edo-Jorge at bay, skill and teamwork allowing them to match the Spartan. Ahsoka's duel against Count Dooku continued, the young warrior proving the growth of her skill & power by matching the old master fairly well. And Twilight-Link continued making the 'Unknown Man' his bitch, having used every weapon in his arsenal at least once, just for the hell of it. All the same, however, the enemies kept getting back up, gifted as they were with unlimited stamina and self-repair.

"This isn't good" Young-Link said as he used an Ice Arrow to freeze a resurrected Kiri-shinobi. "We're doing okay so far, but sooner or later we'll all get tired, and these guys won't! We need to find a way to bring this to an end!"

"Well, if you have any ideas, kid," Sunset Shimmer replied, firing a _Sagitta Magica_ barrage, "I'm all ears!"

"I don't know… Hey, where'd that other Arbiter go?"

"He was granted peace" Laicixa replied. "Because all his lingering doubts and regrets were assuaged, and his soul was calmed, he was able to break free of the _Edo Tensei_ and return to the afterlife."

"His soul was… calmed…" Young-Link murmured. "Soul… calmed… That's it… That's it! I think I know how to end this!"

"…I think I know what you're thinking of. But with how wide this battlefield is, I'm not sure the spell's area of effect will extend wide enough."

"We'll help you -dodo!" The Fairy Tone Dori said as he and his seven siblings flew up.

"We need to make the proper magic circle on the ground first for the amplification to really do its stuff -soso" Sori said. "But once that's done…"

The little warrior boy nodded. "Let's do this."

Soon, they had Caro and Anya helping to form the rune-circle in the ground. Once it was complete, Link stepped into the middle of it, and drew his ocarina…

"Huh?" Ruin noticed what was going on from a distance, and her expression darkened. "No… _No you fucking don't!_"

However, the instant she started flying towards Link, she screeched to a halt again as she found herself surrounded by _hundreds_ of red-orange balls of magical energy. She looked around, soon spotting Tiida with his hands outstretched.

"Crossfire Convergence: Macross Shift!"

He swept his hands inward, and every single crossfire bolt came rushing in at Ruin from all directions, engulfing her in light and smoke. Meanwhile, Link focused his magic, took a deep breath, and put the Ocarina of Time to his lips and blew. With the Fairy Tones' chimes matching his own notes, the sound amplified by the rune, the Song of Healing echoed out across the entire battlefield. Upon its completion every remaining _Edo Tensei_ stopped attacking, the technique's hold on them coming loose, and then their bodies were suffused in white light, starting to lose their color and crumble away.

"Hmph. So this is how it ends again…" Dune said, looking down at his body as it came apart into dust. He turned to Vegeta. "Well fought, Prince of Saiyans. Well fought."

Darth Maul looked down at his hand as its physical form crumbled away. "So I am returning to the netherworld…" he said, before looking back at Sasuke and Teana. "Oh, well; it was fun while it lasted."

"Dam it…" Smythe muttered as she and Dragovich began to come apart. "We were so damn close!"

"Uh, no you weren't" Mel replied. "I had you on the defensive about two-thirds of the time."

"{Not with a bang, but with a whimper…}" Dragovich mused in Russian. "Perhaps we'll see each other again sometime, Solos."

"I hope not" Ishtar replied. "Go back to hell, Leonid."

The man chuckled grimly.

"Crap" Karidé said, noticing what was going on. "Time to bail." She vanished into a Dark Gateway, leaving Kaede and Reisen behind.

Secundum grunted, his body coming apart in addition to being pinned to the ground via Bardiche Zanbar through the chest. "Lord Lifemaker… We couldn't avenge you…"

"You may win this time, _humans_," the coming-apart Dynamis told Mami, Erika, and Subaru, "but be wary: the future that Lord Lifemaker foretold will come to pass; the perils of individuality and free will shall lead to civilization's destruction."

"Don't count on it" Subaru replied. "Not everybody is as pessimistic as you creeps."

"Damn it, not now!" the 'Unknown Man' shouted. "I didn't even get one kid! This is your fault, you little bastard!" He continued cursing a blue streak at Twilight-Link until his body came apart completely, collapsing into dust that blew away in the wind, followed shortly thereafter by those of the other aforementioned villains. Soon after, the 'cannon-fodder' shinobi faded away as well, relief on their faces as they returned to the afterlife.

"Miss Tano…" Ct. Dooku said as his _Edo Tensei_ body began to come apart. "You have come very far. I look forward to watching your continued growth from Beyond."

"Count Dooku…" she said. "I know now your initial reasons for making the Confederacy. The Old Republic _was_ bloated and corrupt. I don't think war was the answer, but… I can see where you were coming from. …With how things are now, you'd have made a fine member of the DDF."

The old man smiled. "Perhaps in another universe…"

With that, the dust that had made up his body blew away in the wind, as his soul passed on.

"Ruby…" Summer Rose caressed her little girl's cheek, even as her arm and the rest of her body was paling and crumbling away. "I'm sorry I have to leave now. But, one day we'll see each other again. Be careful regarding the woman who killed me… and I wish I had more information to give you about her."

"It's okay… mom…" Ruby tearfully went in for a hug, holding her mother until the woman's body crumbled away into dust. She felt as the woman's spirit kissed her on the forehead, and then ascended away.

"Itachi-san…" Kisame said, his body already beginning to blow away. "In the end, I wasn't so terrible after all, was I?"

Itachi smiled. "No. No you weren't. Goodbye, old friend."

The shark-man smiled – not his usual fanged grin, but a normal, calm smile – as he passed on, his body's dust being swirled away in the wind.

"Yuri…" Prof. Tsukikage said as his body began to crumble. He looked over to his wife, who had emerged the second that the barrier protecting noncombatants vanished with the passing of hostiles. "Haruna… I'm sorry I have to leave you again… Take care of each other, and of… her" he gestured to the former Dark Cure, who was looking at him as well, tears in her eyes.

"What… should we name her?" Haruna Tsukikage choked out. "Our second child…"

The man gave a playful smirk. "Well, I named Yuri; it's only fair that you name the second one, dear."

"…Yamika (闇花)" she replied. "Tsukikage Yamika"

He smiled. "A good name… Very good… Haruna, Yui, Yamika… Goodbye…"

With that, the man's body crumbled into dust, his spirit briefly visible passing on. The three remaining members of the Tsukikage family huddled close together, Haruna embracing her new daughter for the first time.

"Dad…" Kyōko looked up at him. "I…"

"You don't need to say anything" he cut her off, placing his hand on her hand. "I deserved everything I got. I'm just thankful I could redeem myself if only a little in this last moment. …I must go now, to be purged of my sins, so that one day I can see your mother and Momo again. When that day comes, if it is before you go to see them, I'll give them your love. …You've made me proud, Kyōko. I'm sorry it took me being dead to be able to see that."

The young girl nodded, sniffling as she rubbed at her eyes before looking up at his smiling face, the face she remembered from her childhood. Then he was gone, the dust that had been his body blowing away and covering the earth.

"Jorge!" Teana leapt in, running up to her old mentor. "I… I…"

The big Spartan removed his helmet, revealing black-sclera eyes that still carried the same spark and kindness they did in life, along with a familiar smile, even as his armored body was beginning to fall away into dust.

"You've done good, Spartan" he said to her. "You've done good. I'll tell Carter and the others you said hello."

She nodded, trying not to cry. Jorge looked up at the Arbiter, standing off to the side, and gave the Sangheili a respectful nod which was returned. He then held his hand out, and he & Teana bumped fists one last time before he then crumbled and blew away.

"Miyako…" Sayaka murmured with teary eyes, as she, Homura, Kyōsuke, and Mami gathered around with her; Madoka was still being attacked by Malia, though the two of them were currently only using basic blade attacks, no magic or jutsu.

The ice-user gave them a smile and a nod. "I'm sorry I was taken from you guys so suddenly" she said. "I wish I could have more time with you, but… well… Take care of yourselves…"

She walked up to Kyōsuke and kissed him for several seconds. Once she pulled back, she held her smile at him as her body crumbled away. And that was it; the last of the _Edo Tensei_ summons had passed on.

Madoka and Malia stood staring each other down, gripping their Keyblades as they panted for breath. Freed of the battles, the three leading Cures – Blossom, Melody, and Happy – had joined Madoka, standing with her.

"This fight's over, Malia" Madoka said. "Give it up. You don't have the power to-"

"Shut up!" Malia snapped. "Don't you _dare_ say that! I _have_ to have the power!"

"Why?" Cure Happy asked. "Why is power so important to you?"

"…Damn it… Why did you people have to kill my Heartless and my Nobody? I was happier not having these memories… You wanna know so badly why power's so important? I was a happy little kid once; yeah, big shock. I had a family, a mom & dad, I had a normal life, I had a home… I had a happy little family, mom & dad were real goody-goodies all big on morals and niceness and stuff like that. But they pissed off the wrong people, people who didn't take kindly on bein' preached to about being decent people. So they killed my mom and dad, an' they held me down and made me _watch_, so I'd understand how the world really worked. They left me there, face-down in my folks' blood, and that's where Kyubey found me. He offered a wish, and I wished for power – enough power so that kinda shit could _never_ happen to me again."

She took a ragged breath.

"I killed every last fuckin' one of those people – hunted them down like animals, because I was stronger, _I _had more power, and that made them prey and me the predator. I got stronger and stronger, killin' Witches, learning how the world worked, seeking more and more power. And I learned… that in this fucked-up world, bein' nice don't mean _shit_; it's power that's the only thing that matters. My 'rents got killed because they were _weak_, and they were weak 'cause they were nice. I don't mourn 'em anymore; they got what they deserved for not bein' the fittest and meanest and strongest, 'cause that's who survives! I've thrown out all parts & pieces of that old, 'nice' weakling they tried to make me into! Love? Forgiveness? Compassion? Loneliness? Sadness? Bullshit! Anger and power are the only things that matter to me now!"

She panted lightly for breath, having finished her rant. But the looks that Madoka, Tsubomi, Hibiki, and Miyuki were giving her were not anger or disgust or anything like that; they were of shock, understanding… and pity. Cure Melody stepped forward.

"If that is true," she spoke softly, "then why are you crying?"

Malia looked confused and a bit shocked, having not noticed the tears that had been flowing down her face. She reached a hand up, and finally felt the wetness on her cheeks and around her eyes. She gasped, looking to be in deep shock as well as scared. Panic flooded into her expression, and she immediately took off, vanishing in a burst of speed and through a Dark Portal.

"Malia…" Madoka murmured, staring at where she'd been. "So that was what I felt in you…"

Not too far away, Ruin grunted and struggled in vain, her little body gripped tightly (not enough to seriously hurt but definitely enough to prevent escape) in one of Tiida's _Susanō_ hands, wrapped around her torso from her shoulders to her waist, holding her face-down a few feet off the ground. Her hips and legs hung out the other end, the legs held in place by two more _Susanō_ hands – these ones shrunken down to human size – gripping her ankles. Nearly all of the DDF fighters present had gathered around, curious, and the rest came up soon as well; most of them were behind her, out of her view, but she knew full well they were there.

"You know," Tiida said to the struggling Ruin, "behind all your dark power, your Keyblades, your viciousness, your bravado… you're kinda just a mean, nasty, ill-tempered, ill-behaved little brat. And there's really only one way to handle ill-behaved little brats, and just because I never had to do it to Tia doesn't mean I don't know how."

Wondering just what the hell Tiida was going to do to her here, in front of so many of her enemies, including Fate, Alicia, & Laicixa, Ruin squealed as a fourth, human-size _Susanō _arm emerged and yanked her pants down, exposing her bare bottom to the world and all the onlookers.

"Ohhhhh" Suigetsu said softly. "Heheh… I know what he's gonna do~… Hey Akemi, got any popcorn in that subspace thing of yours?"

Ruin's heart-rate was going up, feeling a twinge of panic; was he going to do something 'naughty' to her? But then, she sensed and heard as he conjured something, and though he was using his _Susanō_ to cancel out her magic she managed to use a little to briefly conjure a mirror to see what he was now holding. And when she did, the mirror spell vanished as she felt panic, mortification, and fear as she realized the true nature of her punishment, what was about to be done to her in front of all these people, including Teana, Kaname, the Uchiha brothers,_ Fate, Alicia, and Laicixa_:

In the fourth _Susanō_ arm's hand was a perfectly-sized paddle.

"N-No…" she squeaked out, as she felt the sudden shift of Tiida cocking his spectral arm back. "No, no, No, _No, NOOOOOOOOO_***SMACK***

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Whew; damn, but that took a while. Anyway, not entirely sure what the next chapter will have yet, but should probably have it out before the end of May.

Also, if future reveals in RWBY regarding Ruby's mother contradict things given in this chapter, I'll come back and edit this chapter.


	5. King of Thieves

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Realm PC-5 – Earth – Japan – Hanasaki Botanical Garden**

**Day 3 – 12:40 PM**

Everyone had gone into the spacious indoor garden to relax after the battle a scant 10 minutes ago, tending to wounds and going over everything that had happened. Kyōko was allowing herself to be fussed over by Mami, still a bit shaken up after seeing her father again, though how things had ended had given her some much-needed catharsis; in addition, Mami was glad to hear that the redhead had finally regained her lost _Rosso Fantasma_ ability… and both giggly and giddy that the girl had actually _called_ it that. Ruby was unusually quiet and calm, thinking long and hard about the fight against her revived mother, how the woman had been murdered by a _person_, not killed by Grimm… and about the big hole now in her favorite shirt (though she had three more exactly like it). Yuri and her mother Haruna were tending to and quietly bonding with their newest member Yamika, who was still weak and disoriented from the triple-punch of resurrection, purification, and de-aging (she was now physically only about a year older than the other three HeartCatch Cures, and only a little taller, too), but she was getting better; though, Haruna wouldn't stop hugging her.

"It's hard to believe Malia used to be a decent person" Mami said as she and the others of Team Madoka were gathered around. "And the things that happened to her… well, I guess they can sort of explain how she's fallen so far."

"What will you do next time we face her, Madoka?" Homura asked.

"I…" Madoka started. "I don't know. I'll need to think about it…"

"…She never did get any of the oatmeal-raisin cookies, did she?" Kyōko chimed in.

The Lanstar and Testarossa siblings were in another corner of the garden, together with Reisen, Sunset, and the Smile Cures.

"It's been a hell of a day so far, huh?" Sunset remarked.

"Yeah…" Teana replied wistfully; she had gotten to see Jorge again, even if only for a little while.

"But… what in the world happened to Joker?" Nao wondered. "Aqua-san says he… just vanished through some dark portal?"

"Not to mention that beforehand he acted like he could hear something," Reika added, "and he grinned just before he let himself fall through the portal."

"So there could be another _Edo Tensei_ still running around," Laicixa said, "maybe plotting something."

"We'll have to keep an eye out" Tiida said. "From the archival footage, and his actions today, that guy's a twisted sadist, a real piece of work – might've been the blackest heart of that whole _ET_ bunch."

"Worse than that guy in black with the crossbow from the Diclonii's Earth?" Reisen asked.

"…Okay, so maybe they're tied."

"Well," Akane leaned back on folded arms, "all in all I'd say things turned out relatively well in that battle…" she grinned "especially the end."

A couple of the other girls smirked or giggled. The spectacle after the end of the fight had been quite a show, watching the vicious and arrogant source of so much trouble be degraded like that.

"I think Ruin will remember this day for a _looong_ time" Alicia said with a grin. Her grin widened as she giggled. "I know I will."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Unknown Realm - Home Base of the Seekers of Darkness**

**Ruin's Quarters**

A little girl (well, a mass of Heart's Darkness and evil in the form of one) laid face-down on her bed, sniffling and occasionally trembling lightly as she buried her face in her pillow, a fan turned on and pointed down at her bare bright-red bottom. This was officially her worst day ever. Not only was her first usage of _Edo Tensei_ in combat a failure, with _four_ summons lost to her even before that boy with the ocarina used his spell-song to undo the jutsu, but one man, whom she'd thought to be inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, had thoroughly bested her in battle. And then, once _everyone _(including _Fate and Alicia_, she shuddered in mortification) had gathered round, he had thoroughly restrained her with his _Susanō_, which apparently had a quite potent anti-magic ability not seen in others of its kind, _exposed_ her in front of the whole crowd, and then conjured a paddle and spanked her senseless (made worse by the fact that he was somehow really, really good at it despite having never done it before (he'd observed with his Sharingan a master at work on a young delinquent many years ago in his 'first life')).

He'd been ceaseless and merciless, not stopping until long after she, the great and fierce Ruin, was reduced to loudly bawling and wailing like an infant for all to hear, her face flushed and soaked with tears and her bottom from upper edge to thigh-creases a bright cherry-red for all to see. And _then_, once he was _finally_ done spanking her, he'd dropped her through a portal back to her room that she'd instinctively formed… so that she landed hard butt-first on the hard floor beside her bed, making her wail anew. _And_, he'd placed some sort of counter-spell on her backside that rendered it immune to healing magic, as well as to any attempt to cool/soothe it through other magical means like a low-level Cold spell. She would have to wait for it to de-redden and recover and stop being hyper-sensitive and sore (it felt like _burning_) the mundane way, which would take a _long_ time; she'd be sitting on ultra-soft, chilled cushions for a while, and it'd probably be hours before she could sit _at all_.

As the pain and humiliation ran through her mind and body, dominating her thoughts, rage and hatred began to well up. She let out a deep, inhuman growl between sniffled sobs, and her eyes, wet and red from crying, glowed gold as the sclera turned black.

"Tiida Uch**iha**…" she snarled, her voice possessing an unnaturally-deep flanging effect. "I **w**ill_**ma**__ke y__**o**__u __**suffer**__!_"

Then she whimpered and sobbed again, and the scary image was ruined.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Realm PC-5 – Earth – High Orbit – **_**Starshot **_**– Portside Lounge**

**Day 4 – 9:35 AM**

A handful of people relaxed in the lounge, fresh from breakfast and/or light morning workouts (the halls of this section of the _Starshot_ were good for fitness walks).

"So I says to him, I says, 'puberty stick? I got hit by the puberty _twig_'" Marie was talking to Sunset. "Whereas my sister Sarah got hit by the whole damn tree!"

Sunset smirked. "Come on, Marie, you're not _that_ underdeveloped. You're just comparing yourself unfairly to the three tall bombshells you share a team with. Between Teana, Shion, and Sarah, anyone normal would feel a little inadequate."

"This coming from a girl who's as tall as Teana and almost as stacked."

"Yeah, but this isn't my real form, remember that; a little pony is even less imposing than you think yourself to be, right?"

"Hrm…"

Meanwhile, Fate was having a vid-chat conversation with Nanoha, who was busy on another mission at the moment. Off to the side, Tiida glanced over, and as he saw Nanoha's face on the vid-screen his expression became downcast as he remembered that mission gone awry several years ago, when he had led five other Bureau mages, including Vita and the then-12 Nanoha, to investigate anomalous readings on a cold and snowy world, splitting the group into three pairs on arrival… and then little Nanoha had suffered a simultaneous mid-torso impalement and Linker Core Hemorrhage. He still vividly remembered the frenzy – he and the three others rushing to the scene, finding Vita near to panicking and in tears as she carefully cradled her badly-wounded close friend, the hasty emergency extraction, and how he had carried the girl up to the ship and to the infirmary; the little girl had felt so light and looked so tiny in his arms, limp and cold and barely breathing, her blood staining his Barrier Jacket…

Tiida shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. When he had gone on the mission where he'd been ambushed and killed by Pain, it had been 13 months since the incident. Nanoha had been walking again for five months, and it had been a little less than 2 ½ months after she'd finally gotten back out of diapers after the damage the LCH did to her control muscles. Recently, after his resurrection, he'd learned that it had taken nearly 18 months after the mission-gone-wrong before she'd 'totally' recovered in terms of physical and magical ability… and even then, there was some permanent damage; while her current magical power-level and capacity was markedly higher than it had been back before the accident, it was only around 85% of what it would have been had the incident never happened. And according to Dr. Shamal, if Nanoha ever suffered another LCH it _would_ kill her, no questions asked.

"Hey, _nii-san._"

He was brought back to the present, so to speak, as his little sister sat down beside him on the couch, quickly relaxing as his presence and closeness made her instinctively feel safe and calm.

"Higher-ups have got something on readings" Teana said. "We'll be heading for a place connected to the Smile team's realm – the remains of the 'Bad End Kingdom'. Don't know what we'll find there, so we should be ready for anything…"

She yawned, still looking a little sleepy thanks to waking up earlier than normal, and he reached and pulled her close so that her head leaned on his shoulder. She let out a little sigh as she relaxed.

"_Nii-nii_…" she murmured with a little smile. "If I ever see Mortis-sama again, I don't know how I'll ever thank him for bringing you back…"

"I'm sorry you went through so much because of what happened to me, Tia" he replied. "We never even got to do what I promised we would do after I came back from that mission. …So, tell you what: after this mission is done, if we find some time, how about we use one of McDowell-san's age-changing pills, make you a 10-year-old for the day, and we go to the amusement park just like I promised we would all those years ago?"

Her eyes lit up at that, though then she blushed as she tried not to appear so childishly excited. He just chuckled and petted her on the head.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Realm PC-7c – Bad End Kingdom**

**Day 4 – 1:45 PM**

The two Links and the seven kids of Theta Team moved across the rocky badlands, the thick spire of rock supporting the old base of Pierrot's lackeys visible a distance behind them, along with the _Starshot_ hovering 600 meters over it. A couple other teams were exploring in other directions, as people began searching for the source (or sources) of the anomalous readings briefly detected earlier.

As the nine moved on, a strong hot breeze suddenly blew through, forcing them all to shield their faces. As the wind died down, a subdued evil chuckle was heard.

"I wasn't expecting to see you all here…" a deep and slightly-raspy voice said.

Everyone went on alert, looking around and quickly spotting a black-cloaked figure around seven feet tall, observing them with arms folded. A hint of a dull-red beard was visible beneath the hood.

"Who are you?" Laicixa summoned her 'Midnight Roar' Keyblade.

"I am Xehanort's newest ally" the mysterious man replied. "He rescued me from the prison I was sealed in, and now he & I have formed a partnership."

"Why are you here?" Twilight-Link gripped the hilt of his sword but did not yet draw it.

"Oh, just to observe, and maybe for a little revenge…"

"Revenge?" Laicixa asked. "Against the PreCures?"

The dark figure chuckled. "They are of no consequence to me. No, the target of my vengeance is…"

He pointed at the group, and one member of it felt shocked realization as she recognized the symbol etched into the back of his glove.

"O-Oh no…" Erika murmured, eyes wide. "It's… H-He's…"

The figure grabbed at his cloak and ripped it away, revealing his identity, his dull-red cape billowing in the wasteland wind, his massive muscled form with dull-green skin and dull-red hair & short beard, a long pointed nose beneath cold blue eyes and above a vicious grin.

"Hello again, 'Hero of Time'…" Ganondorf snarled.

Young-Link trembled a bit before his face shifted into a scowl and he drew his sword & shield. "You're… the Ganondorf that I defeated in that other timeline where I became older…"

"Yes~" the Gerudo King hissed. "Xehanort found me in the Spirit Realm, incapacitated the Sages there and freed me of the prison that _you_ tossed me into, wretched boy. Now, he and I seek to combine our power, our abilities, and our knowledge to bring about the Ultimate Darkness, into which all Hearts shall be subsumed. …Perhaps we'll start with _yours_, children."

In response, Erika summoned her 'Stroke of Midnight' Keyblade as she and Laicixa made ready, while the two Links drew their Master Swords, Erio & Caro readied their Devices, Timmy and Anya charged their fists with Lightning and Fire, respectively, and eight of Mariko's vectors curved forward around her.

"Let's see you try" Young-Link said.

Ganondorf chuckled, and held out his right hand. The Triforce of Power glowed along the back of it… and then, in a flash of red and black light, a unique weapon appeared – long, with a smooth red-orange handle surrounded by a rectangular guard, a black blade with faded, chipped bronze along the edges, a head with several chipped and oddly-shaped red-orange spikes with black tips and a slit-pupiled bestial blue eye at their base, and a blue gem at the end of a keychain extending from the base of the handle. The group felt shock as they beheld the evil-looking weapon:

The 'Chaos Ripper' – a Keyblade.

"Very well, then…" he said in reply to the boy. "I shall…"

He then pointed his left palm at the group and fired a fairly large blast of Darkness, forcing them to scatter. Erio then barely brought Strada up in time to block a downward strike from Ganondorf's blade, the transferred force making the rock at Erio's feet crack as he struggled against the giant's frightening strength. Ganondorf had to abruptly bring his left arm up to block a flaming kick from Anya from the side, and then he leapt back from both in order to dodge a Light Arrow fired by Young-Link. He spun around and blocked a swing of Twilight-Link's sword, and the two exchanged blows for several seconds, finishing when Ganondorf leapt high to dodge a low horizontal swing aimed at his legs, and forced Twilight-Link to roll away to avoid getting stomped upon landing.

A Strike Raid came spinning in, and as the Keyblade drew near a flash of light accompanied its owner being teleported to it, and Erika swung her Stroke of Midnight at Ganondorf's face. The wizard-warrior brought his Chaos Ripper up to block the strike, and then pushed/swung the blade, sending the little girl flying. He then had to quickly leap back to avoid a strike by several of Mariko's vectors, and he fired a large wave of Darkness bolts from the tip of his Keyblade, forcing her to pull her vectors back and use them to block the shots. A 'small' strike of Lightning- and Fire-type _Sagitta Magica_ from Timmy and Caro struck him from behind, and he growled and swung his Keyblade in a wide arc in their direction, releasing a slicing wave of Darkness that forced the two to hit the dirt.

Laicixa and Young-Link moved in next, double-teaming the huge dark warrior. Young-Link used a quick Spin Attack to force Ganondorf back a bit, enabling Laicixa to charge her Keyblade with Lightning-type magic for a special elementally-charged Sonic Blade attack that broke Ganondorf's guard and made him stagger back. However, before anyone could follow through and land another blow, Ganondorf roared out and loosed a pulse of dark power, steadying himself and knocking back Erio and Erika who'd been trying to rush in and land a few hits. He then flash-stepped to behind Laicixa and Young-Link, and blasted them with a dark shockwave that sent them tumbling over to where Erika & Erio were. As Mariko, Anya, Caro, and Twilight-Link hurried over to stand in defense of the four, Ganondorf focused his dark power into his Keyblade and then fired a dark-purple beam of energy from its tip. Mariko and Caro formed a Shield spell, but Ganondorf kept it going, and the Shield slowly began to crack and warp. However, one member of the group got to her feet and took a unique stance, focusing and gathering her power…

"_Kaaaa… Meeee… Haaaa… Meeee…_"

Ganondorf's eyebrow arched in curiosity as he felt the sudden buildup of ki/chakra behind the Shield, and saw the bluish glow. And then, it was thrown forward and released:

"_Haaaaa!-!-!_"

A bright blue-and-white beam of ki/chakra was fired forward from Erika's hands, pushing back against Ganondorf's attack, as she used the technique Goku had taught her shortly before her arrival in Hyrule back in Book 23. Her comrades stared in shock, and Ganondorf growled as he put a little more power into his attack. But then Erika's aura flared brighter, and her Kamehameha brightened and grew in size, casting her in a bluish light. Ganondorf cried out in shock as his attack was overtaken, and the energy wave engulfed him, continuing forward until it hit and demolished a large rock formation. Erika cut her attack off, panting for breath with hands still held forward.

After several moments, Ganondorf groaned as he pulled himself free from the rocky rubble, one hand still gripping his Chaos Ripper and the other reaching up to wipe some blood from his brow. He glared at the group, and then he smirked.

"Not bad" he simply said. "Not bad at all."

Then, brushing himself off and slightly favoring his right leg, he formed a Dark Gateway and stepped through, falling back for now.

"…How long have you been keeping _that_ up your sleeve?" Anya asked Erika, still a little shocked.

"N-Not long" the girl replied. "Mr. Goku t-taught me it, when he taught it to N… Naruto and Nanoha, too."

"It drove Ganondorf off, at least" Erio said.

"For now" Twilight-Link added.

"I… suppose we should head back now," Timmy said, "let everyone know that Xehanort and Ganondorf have joined forces."

And so the group began making their way back toward the last checkpoint they passed, so as to call for a ride back up to the ship.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Bad End Kingdom – Elsewhere**

**Same Time as Theta Team's Battle with Ganondorf**

A team of Sasuke, Blake, Marie, and Goten made their way through an old cave; for navigating in the darkness Sasuke used his Sharingan, Blake used her Faunus night-vision, Marie used a V.I.S.R. visor worn over her eyes, and Goten just stuck close to Marie. They'd already discovered that this cave was a bust, with nothing worth writing home about, and were on their way out; thankfully Sasuke had a really good sense of direction, so they were heading straight for the exit with no problems. …And then the ground started shaking.

"What's going on?" Goten asked. "Is it an attack? Bombs?-!"

"Negative" Marie's Device, Charon, replied. "Groundquake; magnitude 5.7."

Suddenly, there was a worrying rumbling, cracking sound from above, as cracks spread across the cave ceiling.

"Aw crap, this cave isn't gonna hold!" Marie shouted.

"Move!" Sasuke ordered, as he and the three others started running. Soon parts of the ceiling and stalactites were dropping around them.

"We're not gonna make it like this!" Blake said.

"Goten, make us a hole!" Sasuke pointed to the roof.

"Got it!" the little Saiyan pointed both arms up at an angle, and as Sasuke averted his gaze Goten fired a beam of ki that punched through the 'roof'; Blake was heard crying out in surprise, and Sasuke saw her reeling back, rapidly blinking her eyes. He cursed inwardly; he'd forgotten how the natural low-light sensitivity of Blake's eyes would take a suddenly flare of light like a ki blast. Her vision would recover, but not on time to get out of the cave, which was now collapsing even faster. In a flash of movement, he grabbed her bridal-style and leapt clear out through the hole, Marie and Goten flying out behind him as the cave collapsed completely.

In midair, as Blake's vision partially recovered, and she looked up, seeing and feeling her situation, she felt her face heat up as she stared up at Sasuke's face. Soon the quartet came back down to earth, and he set her down.

"S-Sorry about that…" she murmured, keeping her back turned and hoping he didn't see the pinkness of her cheeks.

"Your vision was impaired by the sudden transition from near-total darkness to bright light" he replied. "It wasn't your fault. …Alright, let's get back to the ship."

As the two boys started on ahead, Marie gave Blake a knowing smirk, making the cat-Faunus blush and glare at her.

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next Time (maybe): Combinations, transformations, and Harmony Power -nya!


	6. Prism Gang

The wait for this chapter was due to its length, studying for finals, and having to deal with a malware/"browser hijacker" called "Trovi" and the crap it did to my computer.

Hmph; so while Canon!Kakashi has lost his Sharingan, Travels!Kakashi has the EMS…

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Realm PC-7c – Bad End Kingdom**

**Day 4 – 3:50 PM**

The anomalous readings had finally been pinpointed. A cooler, rocky area a middling distance from the old Bad-End base was being used for something by someone, and the DDF wanted to find out what and who. To that end, they sent a team comprised of Vegeta, Marie, Erika S., Mariko, Cure Beauty, and Sasuke. As the sextet moved through the area, amongst boulders and rock formations, everything seemed quiet and calm.

"Sasuke…" Vegeta spoke lowly.

"I know" the boy murmured. "I sense them, too."

A second later, the two males leapt to the side, dodging a pair of Darkness spears launched at them from behind & above; at the same time, Vegeta spun and fired a _Ki_ blast at another aimed at Marie, while Sasuke formed a Stage-0 _Susanō_ arm and used the giant skeletal hand to shield Erika from a fourth spear. The others immediately went on guard.

"Impressive" one voice said. "They actually sensed it coming."

"I _told_ you those two looked like they had good instincts" another replied.

The DDF group turned to look as six new figures emerged from the shadows of a rock spire. From the looks of them, all six were Demons or _Mazoku_, maybe_ Yōkai, _their flesh in varying shades of gray and the sclera of their eyes black. The first was about half a foot taller than Vegeta, with short backward-spiked black hair and a body that was muscular but not overly so, and was wearing dark red armor. The second was around seven feet tall, wearing dark-blue armor with a few teal highlights, a similar muscular build and short, upward-spiking horns that looked somewhat like hair. The third, the only woman of the group, was half a head shorter than the red-armored one, with long white hair reaching down to her waist, wearing dull-green armor, and with a body that combined lean muscles with alluring curves.

The fourth member of the group was by far the smallest, only around three-and-a-half feet tall, scrawny but with lean muscle, wearing dull-purple armor and matching gauntlets with sharp claws tipping the fingers, and a fangs-bearing, somewhat unstable-looking grin on his face framed by two thick black downward-curving horns; of the six, he looked the least human-like. The fifth was a huge mass of muscle, at least eight feet tall, wearing yellow-hued armor that matched his hair which spiked out in several directions. And the last one was a male with long, flowing white hair that looked especially cared-for, wearing orange armor with intricate little designs etched into it.

"And who might you be?" Sasuke asked them.

"We are the Prism Gang," 'Red' replied, "mercenaries, hired by Amon to… cause a little trouble for you people."

'Mercs?' Mariko said telepathically to Erika and Marie. 'So maybe, if they're only in it for the money, they won't be so bad morally.'

'Wait for it…' Marie replied.

"Yeah," 'Purple' added, "he offered us a lot of souls in exchange for this. Though he calls 'em 'Hearts', for some reason. …And it looks like we can get a few kids' Hearts out of this; they're especially tasty."

'_There_ we go…' Marie sent.

'Well, you can't fault me for being a little hopeful…' Mariko replied sheepishly.

"So…" 'Blue' said. "We _were_ using this area as a hideout while we came up with plans, but now that you've stumbled upon us…"

"You think you can handle all of us at once?" Marie asked, readying Charon in Light-Beam mode.

"Well, we won't know until we try…" 'Green' replied, her tone becoming sultry as she looked at Sasuke. "I, for one, am looking forward to personally 'handling' some of you…"

Sasuke suppressed a shudder; when Karin 'undressed him with her eyes', as the saying went, it was only a little unnerving, but when _this_ woman did it, it felt _much_ creepier for some reason.

"Besides," 'Yellow' said in a deeper voice than the others, to match his size, "half of you look like you ain't even old enough to be on a battlefield yet."

"And," 'Orange' spoke up, with a posh accent, "with the exception of the blue-haired one, none of you have any sense of style." He flipped his hair, and Sasuke's Sharingan saw the tiny flare of magic used by the _Mazoku _to make sparkles appear in accompaniment. "What's the point of fighting if you can't look good doing it? Ah well, I suppose your blood will have to add a little color to your wardrobes."

Marie turned to the others, a deadpan expression on her face. "It sure got kinda Zarbon out here just now."

Vegeta burst out laughing at her remark.

"If you people are done talking…" Sasuke remarked.

"Ah yes," Red replied, "we all have other things to do, don't we? Well, then… shall we begin?"

There was a flash of movement, and Vegeta had leapt back a few meters, barely avoiding the ground-cracking heel drop that Red had tried to hit him with. He went Super Saiyan and rushed in with a punch that Red blocked, the transferred force making the air shudder. The two flew up into the air, engaging in a high-speed exchange of blows. Meanwhile, the other five charged the rest of the DDF team, with Blue conjuring a straight sword and going for Sasuke, locking blades with the youth's electrified chokutō. Green fired a _Ki_ blast at Marie that the teen Shielded against, which gave Green the time to conjure a quarterstaff with blades on either end and close into melee range, forcing Marie to switch Charon to energy-blade mode and putting her on the defensive, giving ground as she dodged or blocked her attacker's strikes.

Erika was glad that her training to more effectively utilize her 'Reverse Recall' ability (what she called her technique of reversing her Keyblade's teleportation to her to send herself to it instead) had included improving her speed and reaction time so she could more quickly and easily take actions post-teleport; the improvements were now proving quite useful against Purple, who was startlingly fast and agile. The little demon's attacks came at a pretty high rate and from multiple angles, forcing Erika to have her Keyblade in constant motion to block them all. Not too far away, Orange had conjured a rapier and was dueling Cure Beauty, her ice sword holding up well against his blade. This guy's sword-skill level was about the same as Joker's, though he used a different style, and thus Reika was able to keep up with him. But she wondered how long that would last…

Mariko tried to keep her distance from Yellow; through either super-durability, some sort of chakra- or magic-based counter or the like, or something else she couldn't think of, this titan seemed to be immune to her normal vectors, her attempts to stab or slice him with them bouncing off of his dark-grey hide. She was able to get some reactions when she used her ability to combine five vectors into a single super-sized one, though that removed the resultant spectral limb's cutting power in return for brute-force strength, functioning more like a _Susanō _arm than a vector. Right now, she was using four such 'limbs' to fend off and trade blows with the huge demon. He jumped back to avoid a downward blow, and then lunged toward her while conjuring and swinging a great big hammer. She quickly anchored herself to the ground with chakra and brought all four 'limbs' to bear to catch/block the blow, actually skidding back a few meters from the force even with the anchoring attempt.

As Vegeta plummeted toward the ground, he grunted as he managed to regain control of his descent and start slowing himself down, landing feet-first and cracking the ground around him. Red descended soon after, setting down more gently. He had an almost bored look on his face as he looked at his panting opponent.

"So this is all that the famed 'Prince of Saiyans' is capable of…"

After a few seconds, Vegeta chuckled. "Hardly" he replied. Then he stood tall, fists clenched, and let out a rising cry as his aura flared, the ground trembling. In a burst of golden light he transformed again, his golden-blond Super-Saiyan hair becoming more gold than blond, his muscles subtly increasing in size as little blue crackles of lightning joined his now-larger and fiercer-burning gold aura, and most important of all his power level had taken a significant jump. The Prince smirked at Red, standing proud in his Ascended Super Saiyan form.

"_This_ is my _real_ power" he said.

"…Very impressive" Red replied. "I suppose, then, I should use _my_ full power as well."

Red, too, let out a low and rising _kiai_ as he focused his power, a dark-red aura of energy forming around him. The ground shook again as, with a pulse of dark light, Red's body increased in size by about an inch or so, his muscles bulking up a little and his eyes now glowing faintly, his black hair spiking upwards a little. Now at his maximum, he gave Vegeta a calm smirk.

"Holy crap…" Marie whispered. "He's exactly as strong as Vegeta's SS2 form… I think we may be in trouble."

Marie's attention was drawn back to her opponent, as Green's power began to surge upward as well, a vicious grin on her face as her aura flared. Sasuke leapt back from Blue as the demon's aura surged with renewed force, his power-level climbing. Purple, Orange, and Yellow followed suit as well, bringing themselves up to their full power. Purple and Orange had the lowest power-levels of the six now, and even they were strong enough that in a one-on-one fight Vegeta would need to go Super Saiyan 1 to beat either of them.

"Yep, we're in trouble."

The fights continued, but this time they were starting to go more in the Prism Gang's favor. Purple's attacks came faster and hid harder, with Erika now visibly struggling to dodge or block them all. She yelped as he managed to land a blow, leaving a bloody scratch a few inches long along her right side. She cast a light-flare spell, briefly stunning him, and then leapt back and cast Cura to heal herself (though it couldn't repair her shirt; she'd have to get it sewn later), and then immediately he was in her face again and she was back to frantically blocking or dodging his attacks.

Cure Beauty grunted as Orange's blows hit harder, making her magically-augmented arms ache from the force as she continued trying to block his rapier strikes with her ice-sword. He chuckled as he channeled power through his blade, and Beauty gasped as his next strike shattered her weapon. He then followed up by pointing his hand at her and firing a close-range energy blast, and she cried out as it sent her tumbling, skidding to a stop in a crouch with visible damage. Mariko strained as Yellow's already-frightening physical strength had increased even further, starting to out-muscle her 'super-vectors'. Yellow grinned as he charged power into his hammer, and when he swung Mariko cried out in shock as the blow, though blocked, still sent her flying a fair distance.

Marie took to the air, she and Green exchanging blasts, and the demon woman soon had her on the defensive, shrugging off the attacks Marie sent her way and taxing the teen's Shields with every strike and shot. Down below, Sasuke fired a _Katon: Gōkakyū_ at Blue, who smirked and then cleaved the fireball in half with his blade. He fired an energy blast that Sasuke formed a Stage-0 _Susanō _to defend against, the spectral ribs left cracked by the force. Sasuke then formed a pair of skeletal arms to go with the gradually self-repairing ribcage, and rushed at Blue, adding them in conjunction with his sword as he tried to at least match the demon. In the air, SS2 Vegeta and full-power Red matched each other blow for blow, red and gold blurs of blitzing speed and crushing power racing through the sky, exchanging blows and blasts at an amazing rate. Neither had any advantage over the other, and all they could do was keep trying to find an opening where there was none.

Erika winced as a single claw landed a glancing blow, leaving a small, shallow cut along her upper right arm. Purple giggled and then used the brief instant to slip in past her guard, and Erika cried out and was blasted back as she took a point-blank explosive _ki_ blast to the chest. She rolled to a stop and came out on her feet, panting and holding a hand to her midsection; that had to have bruised, maybe broken a rib. Purple channeled his power into one of his gauntlets, forming a set of huge glowing claws of purple energy. He took off running towards her, ready to spear her through the torso with them.

However, there was a sudden swirling effect in the air in front of Erika, a rush of wind and a warping of space. In a whirl of motion and color, Kakashi Hatake teleported in, and he immediately ejected from _Kamui_ three more figures: Nanoha, who moved to assist Mariko, casting a powerful Rune Shield that saved the girl from Yellow's overhead hammer strike; Negi, who immediately called up his _Magia Erebea_ power and rushed to assist Cure Beauty; and Sonic, who intercepted Purple and quickly showed himself capable of matching the little demon in speed, forcing him to dispel his fairly unwieldy energy claws. Lastly, Kakashi himself moved to help Marie, throwing out a _Raijū Hashiri no Jutsu_ to hit Green from the side, stopping her from taking advantage of a split-second opening and enabling Marie to dodge her now-off-target strike.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, several more DDF personnel appeared in a few teleportation circles – fighters from the ship and other locales who weren't too busy, arriving as reinforcements: Teana, Sarah, Aqua, Subaru, Laicixa and Timmy, Cures Melody & Beauty, Goten & Trunks, and the whole of Team Madoka. The six members of the Prism Gang broke off from their current opponents and converged together, facing down the numerous DDF combatants.

"It seems the game just got quite a few new players" Purple said.

"Yes," Blue replied, "it does seem a bit unbalanced now. Let's fix that…"

Blue and Red each stomped a foot on the ground, and in response a very large amount of Amon's demon soldiers, of all Types, emerged from shadow-ports in the ground across the battlefield. The multitude of monsters immediately went to attack the heroes, with the Prism Gang joining in.

Leaving Green to Kakashi and Aqua, Marie took to the air and started blasting demons with Light-Beam shots, using Charon's energy blade whenever anything got too close. Laicixa joined Sonic in fighting Purple while also intermittently fending off attacks from enemy 'mooks' (as some people called them). Teana and Nanoha did their best to help against Blue and Yellow, respectively, but the horde seemed quite intent on getting in their way as much as possible. Negi was focusing on Orange as his opponent, wielding Vesperina with skill that showed his recent training with the Device. Vegeta had re-engaged Red, picking up where they left off as if nothing had happened.

Chased off from their previous opponents, Erika and Mariko found themselves fighting alongside Timmy and Cures Melody & Rhythm against a pack of Type-Es led by a Type-B. Timmy was wielding a short-sword recently given to him by the shinobi, channeling his Lightning chakra through it and using it to block and parry the strikes from Type-Es' daggers and deal blows that cut through their defenses and their bodies. Mariko used her vectors to cut down three Type-Es, and a vector-thrown grenade to the face to take out one more. Erika's Strike Raid took out two more, and then she cast a Reflega to block a crushing punch from the Type-B. She then leapt back, away from the big demon, just as a _Passionato Harmony_ from the two Cures hit and destroyed it.

"These things are everywhere!" Marie called out as she fired a charged shot to take down a flying Type-F. "They just keep coming! There's no end to… these… things… Oh, boy."

_Another_ force of Demon-Soldiers, as big as the initial wave if not a little bigger, was spawning in all around. Looking around at the humongous horde of enemies all around them, Teana looked over to Nanoha, who nodded. The two of them then flew up into the air together, taking position above the battlefield. They readied their Devices, and motes of pink and red-orange light began to converge on them, a combined pink and red Midchildan magic rune-circle appearing beneath them. Some of the other DDF fighters did what they could to keep the flyers off of them, as magical power continued to converge and grow. Finally, with two Starlight Breakers charged and ready, and their energies synchronized, they made ready:

"Nanoha's…" "and Teana's…" "Anti-Army…" "Combo Attack!"

To observers' surprise, the duo then pointed and fired their Starlight Breakers straight up into the sky. The two thick energy beams coiled around each other, until they reached a point high above the battlefield and…

"_STARLIGHT CARNIVAL!-!-!_"

The two Starlight Breakers burst into a _humongous_ barrage/storm of hundreds of pink and red-orange energy blasts that began to rain down on the battlefield. The energy bolts avoided every DDF member, detecting their magical energy signatures and/or Devices and/or standard neural implants, and everything else they targeted. The demon soldiers, both ground-bound and airborne, were bombarded and wiped out en masse, the field being cleared. When the attack ended, only the six members of the Prism Gang had been able to withstand or avoid the barrage. Teana and Nanoha drifted back down, panting for breath as their Devices vented heat.

"Hundreds… in one fell swoop…" Orange murmured. "That was astonishing… and fabulously beautiful, almost as much as myself."

Orange suddenly became aware of a rushing wind and an odd ringing sound. While he'd been distracted surviving the 'light show', his opponent Negi had taken the time & opportunity to prepare his newest finishing move:

"Naruto-san helped me nail this down just yesterday, so let's see if I can pull it off in the field! _Fūton: Rasenshuriken_!"

Orange turned to look just as the thrown technique, shrouded in magic to hold it together and enable it to be thrown, was coming right at him, and a look of shock was on his face as he couldn't get out of the way in time. The _Rasenshuriken_ hit him dead on, shedding its magic 'coating' and allowing the violent chakra to begin piercing and carving into him as the spinning energy pushed him back and up. After a few seconds it 'detonated', and Orange was caught in the center of a massive blue and white swirling sphere of powerful destructive energy, billions of microscopic blades of _ki_ slicing and piercing into him, systematically tearing him apart. The other fights seemed to have stopped to watch.

'So besides me and Naruto-kun,' Teana thought, 'now Negi-kun can do it, too. I wonder if anyone else has the combination of large enough chakra reserves, skill with the Rasengan, Wind affinity, and chakra control to do it…'

The 'dome' of energy faded away, revealing Orange as he dropped to the bottom of the crater that the slicing swirling chakra had gouged out of the ground. His body was horribly mangled, pieces and chunks missing, and at least one limb came off on impact with the ground. He struggled briefly, and then went still and limp. With his death, his body broke down into Darkness particles that floated away, and his heavily damaged orange armor rapidly broke down and faded away as well. Negi stood, panting for breath but with a victorious little grin on his face.

"Look out!"

In an instant, Negi suddenly found himself in a grayscale world, with Homura's hand grabbing his wrist and pulling him forward. He turned to look back, and saw Green frozen in time with a look of fury on her face, her bladed staff being swung at where his neck had just been. Once they were a distance away, Homura unfroze time, and Green's staff-blade whooshed through empty air. Negi and Homura's arms glowed with _Magia Erebea_ runes as they readied for whatever she tried next.

"I might need my _Raiten Sōsō_ form for this" Negi said. "You should probably take in an _Ourania Phlogosis_ and use its form, Akemi-san."

"I haven't been able to successfully perform that spell yet, unfortunately" Homura replied. "I plan to, but for the moment _Palus Tempestas Incendia_ is my strongest Fire-type magic."

Red, Blue, Purple, and Yellow came to Green's side, and soon the rest of the DDF forces on-scene gathered near the two _Erebea_ users.

"You actually managed to kill one of us…" Red said. "You people are more dangerous than we anticipated."

"You little bastard…" Green snarled, glaring hatefully at Negi. "You killed my brother!"

"Perhaps we should fight together this time" Blue suggested to his teammates.

"Yeah," Yellow shifted his grip on his hammer, "let's show these little punks how we got our reputation that led Amon to hire us in the first place."

Purple chuckled. "Let's take this game to the final level."

The Prism Gang's dark auras flared, and they charged, and the DDF's heavy-hitters moved to meet them, with some of those who knew they were outclassed hanging back. Powerful blows and energy blasts began to be exchanged, as an all-out brawl ensued. Blue swung his blade at Kakashi, only for the sword to seemingly pass right through as the shinobi used _Kamui_ to briefly phase that part of his body out of normal reality; in addition to removing the 'eye damage' and 'huge chakra drain' drawbacks, merging the chakra and power of Obito's right eye with the left to grant himself the Eternal Mangekyō had allowed Kakashi to utilize _Kamui_ to its full extent. The _Jōnin _then formed a single _Susanō_ arm, lashing out with a punch that sent Blue flying back, skidding to a stop on his feet several meters away. The demon then smirked and charged his blade with power, rushing in and taking a swing, and Kakashi's eyes widened in shock as the spectral arm he blocked with suffered a crack.

Goten and Trunks, both in their Super Saiyan forms, buzzed around Yellow, avoiding his strikes and peppering him with energy blasts. However, they were both weaker than an adult Saiyan's SS1 form, whereas Yellow was about halfway between Vegeta's SS1 and SS2 power-levels, so their attacks didn't do much. The giant growled and focused his power, and then unleashed a shockwave that blew both boys back. Purple and Green had teamed up, fighting against Erika, Sonic, Mariko, and Negi, and not giving the latter time to enter his strongest form.

Erika skidded back from blocking a strike from Green, wincing at the ache in her arms, and then was startled as Sonic appeared and blocked a strike meant for her from Purple, only to be overpowered and kicked away by the little demon. Sarah then entered the fray, swinging her gravity-hammer at Green, only for the powerful _Mazoku_'s shields to withstand the blow; the evil woman grinned wickedly as she pointed her palm at Sarah's face, and only a last-second save from Marie pulled the blonde out of the way of a decapitating _ki_ blast.

Vegeta and Sasuke were double-teaming Red, who was managing to fend them both off the same time, though he was putting effort into doing so. He formed a Dark Shield spell to block a _Yasaka no Magatama_, and then fired a _ki_ blast that Sasuke's Stage-2 _Susanō_ visibly struggled to endure. Red and Vegeta then rushed each other, catching each other's blows and flying into a frenzy of rapid strikes that were likewise blocked or dodged.

The fight was, overall, not going too well. Amidst the battle, two particular DDF fighters, ones who knew each other extremely well and had excellent synchronization – 'Harmony Power', Hummy would call it – looked to each other, deciding that it was at last time to reveal their ace, the ultimate trick Goku had taught them.

"Hey Goten," Trunks said as he picked himself up, "I think I know how we can beat these guys."

"…Oh, right! That!" the younger of the two nodded.

Teana and Kakashi fought together against Blue, doing everything they could to keep going against him. Unfortunately for them, he was markedly stronger, almost to the level of an adult Super Saiyan 2, and everything they threw at him was dodged or tanked, while everything _he_ threw at _them_ threatened to overwhelm them both. Meanwhile, Nanoha and Aqua struggled against Yellow; Nanoha was contemplating summoning Shima & Fukasaku and entering Sage Mode. With all this going on, few people noticed as two power-levels surged upward, matched, and synchronized…

"How the hell are we going to do this?" Marie said. "These guys are probably tougher than anyone who's here right now!"

"_Fuuuuu_…"

At hearing two voices synchronizing, several people finally noticed the feel of similarly synchronizing energy signatures. Vegeta looked over, and his eyes widened.

"_sion…_"

Marie, Sarah, Negi, Teana, Sasuke, and many others turned and stared in surprise… as did Goten and Trunks, as they saw someone else beating them to their plan.

"No way…" Teana murmured. "Those two?-!"

"_HAAAAA!-!-!_"

The moment Mariko and Erika's fingertips touched, a blinding flash enveloped the two girls as their bodies became masses of light, and a swirling 'cocoon' of energy sprang up around them, kicking up a cyclone of dust. Everyone stared in awe, stopping their fights, as the fusion neared completion. Finally, after several seconds, the shell of light faded away, and amidst the still-swirling dust the shadowy outline of a single small figure was visible.

"A new player has taken to the field?" Purple chuckled. "It seems the game is about to get _very_ interesting…"

Purple then grinned as he moved at his max speed, so fast as to be a blur, right toward the distracted Timmy. However, another blur, even faster, shot out from the dust cloud, and everyone took a second for their brains to process the sight of the figure who was now holding a very surprised Purple off the ground by the throat with one hand.

She looked to be a young girl, around 9-to-11 years of age, and was wearing black wrist-guards, a short, orange-rimmed dark blue vest that was open in the front to reveal a tight white shirt, a slightly-puffy/billowy knee-length white skirt with a blue waistband, and black boots. She had long pink-tipped black hair with pink bangs, with two small rounded cat-ear-like horns emerging from the sides of her skull, and she looked up at her hapless foe with a scowl, her green eyes glaring into his frightened gold ones.

"No more 'games'…" she spoke in a calm angry tone, with Erika's and Mariko's voices together.

With his throat being squeezed, Purple let out strangled squawks and gasps as he feebly tried to free himself, while a faint light built up between the fused warrior's hand and his throat. There was suddenly a large, bright beam of _Ki_ fired point-blank, obliterating Purple's head and upper torso. Everyone stared in shock as the lower half of the demon's body flopped to the ground, breaking apart into Darkness particles and fading away.

"O-One blast… just like that…" Timmy murmured. "You two… Marika…"

Marika looked over to him, giving him a gentle, loving smile, and then turned her attention back to the remaining four members of the Prism Gang, a serious frown back on her face; it seemed that, much as how Gogeta had Goku's "dead-serious when the situation gets deadly serious, tranquil-fury" personality aspect as dominant, Marika had Erika's same for her. Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green grouped together, shocked and angry.

"Two…" Blue murmured. "We haven't even lost _one_ member for 80 years before now, and now we've lost _two_ in the space of 15 minutes…"

"Her power level must be _far_ greater than the sum of her two components" Red observed. "To kill one of us so easily, with a single attack and without even exerting any effort…"

"How the hell are these _brats_ wiping us out like this?-!" Green growled.

"_Fuuuuu-sion! HAAA!-!_"

Everyone's attention was drawn as Goten & Trunks followed Erika & Mariko's example, and after several seconds their fused form emerged, the usual cocky grin on his face as he leapt in to stand beside Marika, using a hand to smooth back his black-and-purple hair.

"Let's share the spoils" Gotenks said to her in his dual voice. "I'll take the big ones, and you can have their boss and the scary-lady one."

"Alright" Marika replied.

The two fused warriors charged in with startling speed, going for their respective targets. Red fired a powerful energy blast at Mariko, only for Gotenks to intercept it with one of his own. As they got close, Marika formed a five-in-one giant brute-force vector, lashed out with a lightning-fast punch with it that sent a surprised Red tumbling away, and then she summoned the 'Stroke of Midnight' Keyblade to block Green's staff-strike. She entered a quick duel against the woman, catching the demoness off-guard with how strong her strikes were. After a little while of this, Marika started dueling Green with one hand long enough for her other hand to form a Rasengan… which had so much power packed into it that when she rammed it into Green's chest, it shattered her chest armor and bored/blew an expanding-spiral hole all the way through her torso. Green tried to gasp with lungs that were no longer there, and then, even though she was dying and she knew it, she began to charge one last _ki_ blast in her hand… until Marika then used a single vector to decapitate her. Green's headless, hole-through-chest body collapsed to the ground, breaking apart into Darkness particles.

Gotenks swerved around and dove under Yellow's hammer swings, sticking his tongue out at the large demon. The giant tried to punch him, but he caught the blow and then flew up to land a rising kick to the jaw that rocked Yellow back a few steps. Gotenks took the opportunity to get some distance, smirking as he stared his opponent down, and took a few showoff-y poses and called out what was coming:

"Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack!"

As Yellow composed himself, he watched in bewilderment as the fused boy spat out what looked to be a cartoonish-ghost version of himself. The Gotenks-ghost giggled, and then at its master's signal it flew forward, closing the distance at great speed. As it drew near, Yellow smacked it aside… and it immediately exploded violently. When the smoke cleared, Yellow's arm had been blown off, and his side was burnt and broken. He groaned as he looked up… just in time for a second Super Kamikaze Ghost to fly in and latch onto his face. The resulting explosion blew Yellow to bits, his charred armor and broken hammer all that was left.

"Who you gonna call?" Gotenks quipped.

Red and Blue came together, nodded to each other, and then flew up into the air, each of them launching a powerful _ki_ blast down at the two fused warriors. But Gotenks batted his aside with only a little effort, while Marika formed a shell-like defense out of her vectors that protected her from the other. She then formed her vectors into wings and shot up into the sky, with Gotenks following. Gotenks went right for Blue, shattering the powerful _Mazoku_'s Dark Shield with a single kick. The demon then swung his sword, but Gotenks caught the blade between his palms and, with a yank to the side, snapped it in two. He then landed a crushing uppercut to Blue's torso, making the demon double over, followed by a blow to the head to stun him. After a few seconds, Blue looked up… just in time to see the bright sphere of bluish-white energy being thrusted forward and released:

"Kamehame_haaaa!-!_"

Gotenks' point-blank energy wave engulfed and obliterated Blue, leaving nothing left. Meanwhile, Marika and Red flew about exchanging blows, and it was clear that the Prism Gang's leader was on the losing end, unable to keep up with the fused warrior in speed or power. Marika lashed out with a punishing combo of melee blows, finishing with a punch that shattered his crimson chestplate and sent him flying a considerable distance. Upon catching himself, Red growled and charged bright red energy in both hands, thrusting it forward as a large beam of destructive energy. However, Marika flew forward and right down the middle of it, parting it like a ship cutting through water. As she neared him she summoned the 'Stroke of Midnight', channeling her power into the Keyblade. As the energy wave cut off, Red barely had time to widen his eyes in shock before the weapon-of-Light blade was swung as she passed, cutting right through him. Red gasped feebly as his body rapidly came apart from where the blade had passed through, the Darkness particles blowing away in the wind and then fading into nothingness.

The two fused warriors flew back down to the ground, landing amongst the rest of the heroes.

"That's how it's done, people" Gotenks said, flashing a 'V' sign. "Awesome, aren't we? If you want autographs, form a line."

Vegeta shook his head in exasperation. "He never changes…" he murmured.

"I still can't believe it…" Sarah said as she looked Marika over. "My baby sister and her 'soul-sister', Fusion partners…"

Marika nodded. "We figured out we were probably compatible enough and knew each other well, so we decided to practice it in case we ever needed it" she said with both girls' voices. "We were practicing the movements when Goku found us, and helped us refine it. After he had us perform the motions exactly perfectly 10 times in a row, he had us actually fuse. Then, he challenged me to a 'spar'. Power-wise I had the advantage for part of it, but then once he went Super Saiyan 3 he had me outclassed by a fairly big margin."

"Regardless," Laicixa chimed in, "you were certainly more than enough for that bunch."

"Yeah," Timmy said, "you were really cool. …And you look pretty nice, too."

Marika gave Timmy a blushing smile as she held his hand.

"So…" Gotenks said. "She and I have about 20, 25 minutes left before we de-fuse… What now?"

"Eh, just chill for now" Teana replied.

"…Meh, okay."

"So, Sonic…" Sarah said. "Anything interesting happening?"

"Well," the hedgehog hero replied, "after business is done here, I was gonna invite Twilight and her friends to help me & Tails 'investigate' this big, fancy orbital amusement park that Eggman's building…"

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

_**Starshot**_

**Same Day – 5:30 PM**

Nanoha wondered why Teana had told her to wait here in the lounge. It had been about 15 minutes since then, and she hadn't heard from the redhead. What was she doing? Suddenly, the brunette was brought back to attention as a door opened, and Teana entered while pushing a certain dark-blue-haired girl in front of her. Nanoha's expression became a bit uncomfortable; even though Teana had long since forgiven and mended ties with her, Subaru still hadn't, really. Why was Teana bringing her here?"

"Go on, dear…" Teana said, giving her girlfriend a little shove between the shoulder-blades.

Subaru actually looked a bit nervous and… cowed, somehow. "Um… So…" she spoke, having been made to face Nanoha. "Tia has… been talking to me a lot… about all the stuff that's happened between you and her and me. I've been so… so angry at you, because you holding back your reasons for your training method's slowness caused Tia to leave. And even after Tia came back, and she got you to change your training method to be more like hers, I've kept being angry. Because I didn't wanna let go of it, since even though it didn't cost me Tia forever, it _could_ have, and for a while I thought it _did_. I've… hated you for that…"

She sighed.

"That anger is… poisoning me, she says, and it might be part of why I can't sync with Fenris too well without losing control. …You… screwed up, but… you had the best of intentions. You were worried about us going through what you did. Tia realized and accepted that, but I refused to. Because I was hurt and stubborn. I…" she sighed again. "I'm sorry, Na… Takamachi-san. I've always been bullheaded, and this time it's caused big problems and a nasty grudge, one that's been messing me up. I guess we can… start over from here. I'll likely never come to respect and admire you the way I used to ever again, but… if we can maybe put the bitterness behind us, and… maybe, years and years from now, we can call each other kinda-sorta-almost friends again."

Subaru extended her hand, and after a couple seconds Nanoha's face lit up with a smile. She nodded, and took & shook the offered hand. Subaru felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, even though part of her still didn't _want_ to feel that from making nice with the woman who'd caused her such stress. But that part would likely, gradually fade away with time. Off to the side, Teana smiled.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Unknown Realm – Home Base of the Seekers of Darkness**

A single small figure stepped into the center of the 'throne room', surrounded by the other present members of the Seekers of Darkness.

"Now, my dear," Master Xehanort looked down at her, "this is your last chance to back out. This ritual, if done correctly, will give you more power, but it may affect your mind adversely, and there is always the possibility it could fail, with catastrophic results. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

Ruin dwelled on her recent memories – being unable to match her 'Original' in raw power, relying solely on blade skill and emotional attacks, and of her recent defeat and painful humiliation at the hands of the Uchiha…

"Yes" she said. "Yes, I am sure, Master. Do it."

The old man nodded, and he & his 'disciples' gathered their power, focusing it into the rune-circle that had been drawn on the floor with Ruin at the center. Dark power surged all around her, and then began converging on and into her. She groaned as she floated off the ground, the power enveloping her, filling her, _changing_ her… Her cries and groans grew louder as the pain built, her body changing, growing, her hair lengthening, her figure filling out, her limbs lengthening and developing, her face changing, all while the terrible dark power coursed through her.

Soon, with her eyes glowing, her open lips curved upward, and her groans became loud, evil laughter that echoed through the chamber…

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next Time: Monsters, clowns, and kitty-parts


	7. The 51st Card

Jeez, it's like the more Travels-Sasuke gradually lightens up and becomes nicer, the more Canon-Sasuke strays into jerkish, "are we really sure he's a good guy again?" territory.

Regarding the "kitty parts" I mentioned at the end of last chapter, forget that; I have chosen, on second thought, _not_ to have Blake randomly wake up one morning with a tail to match her ears, and her ensuing shocked panic that pulls the rest of the team in. It just… didn't feel quite right.

Well… From what I've found out online about _Transformers 4: Age of Extinction_, it involves the backstory (between _3_ and _4_) having the humans turn against the Autobots because of blaming them for Chicago, actually killing most of them and driving the few survivors into hiding. …Well, that's just f*cked up. Henceforth, I _WILL NOT_ be going to see that movie or its sequels, and they will have _NO EFFECT_ on the _Teana's Travels_ storyline; they are not canon to this 'verse. As far as the Travels-verse is concerned, the story of the Transformers Film Series ends with Movie 3 / Book 19 (excluding the characters' recent and future appearances in _Travels_, that is).

Finally, does anyone know of a place where I can SAFELY watch subbed episodes of _Suite _and_ Smile PreCure _(at last check HeartCatch was – for now – all on YouTube)? I used GoodAnime-dot-net for my first viewing of _Suite_ and _Smile_, but… well, remembering looking at the dates my computer says the Trovi-infection programs were "installed", and remembering when I watched, I think that site may perhaps have been the source. But due to copyright crap YouTube doesn't and never will have the episodes I need, and it's not officially subbed and likely never, ever will be. And I'm not fluent enough in Japanese to legally order the (presumed un-subbed) DVDs from overseas and watch them; I need subs. Please help? I ended up having to wait until I had time to go to the local library and watch _Suite_ Ep. 38 on their computers in order to properly play out a certain scene in this chapter, which is one reason why this chapter took so long; as soon as I got to that point I had to completely stop working on it altogether for several days!

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Realm PC-6c – Minor Land's Realm**

**Day 5 – 9:40 AM**

After the events of yesterday afternoon, the DDF had received word from Queen Aphrodite and King Mephisto that their magic scanners had detected Malia's energy signature crossing over into the 'side-realm' connected to Major Land's realm that contained Minor Land. So, the _Starshot_ recalled everyone aboard from the Bad-End realm and made the jump, 'parking' over the old Minor Land Castle. However, it was quickly made clear that the enemy was _not_ using the perfectly good base location here, and was instead somewhere out in the wastes. The DDF were first searching the area around Minor Land Castle, planning to gradually expand their search area from there.

Right now, Kakashi was leading a team of Madoka, Homura, Mami, Cure Happy, Cure Beauty, and Cure Sunny in exploring an area around three kilometers east of the castle; there had been a few hard-to-detect strange sensor readings here. They were nearing an old one-story stone structure, its purpose lost to time. Suddenly, Kakashi held up his hand to call for a halt. Everyone quietly went on guard, looking and listening. In a flash of movement, Mami formed and fired a magic-pistol at a small glowing purple object that had come flying at her, intercepting the attack.

"Who threw that?" the air around Cure Sunny's fists shimmered with heat.

"That would be me~" a voice replied in a jovial tone.

The group looked up at the roof of the old stone structure, and saw a familiar white-masked harlequin looking down at them with a smirk, but upon closer inspection the little 'cracks' along his body seen in his last appearance were gone, and his energy signature felt subtly different, more 'whole'.

"He's… alive…" Cure Beauty breathed out as she and her two teammates looked up in shock. "Joker's alive again…"

"That I am, my dear" Joker replied as he leapt down with a forward flip, abruptly stopping and hovering with his feet only a few inches off the ground for a few seconds and then gently lowering down. "I've got a new lease on life, thanks to the being who found and empowered me. I have another opportunity to spread despair and Darkness!"

"Are you honestly considering taking on all of us at once?" Kakashi asked as he readied a kunai. "From the girls' records of their fights with you, I could probably take you down by myself, maybe even without using the full 100% of my power and skill."

Joker chuckled. "Your records are a bit out of date, Hatake-san. I'm faster and stronger than I was before, thanks to he who has empowered me. And I shall use that gift to harvest Hearts from across the realms! Now…" His dark aura flared, and Kakashi & the girls staggered back from the cold wind that was blown out. The harlequin's dark-purple aura flickered and surged like an evil flame, as a wicked grin formed on his face beneath glowing-red eyes.

"I shall show you my new master's power – Amon-sama's power!"

As the seven DDF members felt varying levels of shock in learning that Joker was now working for Amon, the evil harlequin erected a large Dark Barrier over the area, trapping the heroes within. Then, he shrouded his hands in Dark power and slammed his palms to the ground. Heartless began to spawn in from shadow-ports on the ground _en masse_, but they were accompanied by something worse: several "infantry-scale" Hybrids, like those encountered by Raynor & Kerrigan on Prometheus Station, along with two full-sized ones – a Reaver-type and a Destroyer-type. Everyone quickly felt the effects of one of the special attributes/techniques of the bigger Hybrid types: the 'Aura of Fear', an effect of their psychic presence that forced anyone close enough to feel automatic, instinctual fear of the creatures, and it could be debilitating to anyone without the proper mental fortitude. Even people whose personal power enabled them to, at full strength, strike down big Hybrids with contemptuous ease, like Goku, Naruto, or Nanoha, still felt the effects of fear being psychically forced into their heads whenever they went up against even a single Hybrid, and the effect 'stacked' when multiple Hybrids were present. Only the Cybertronian Primes (with their innate immunity to all magic-, Force/psychic-, and ki/chakra-based attacks), beings physically incapable of fear (Yanme'e, Incubators, not-fully-sapient Geth Platforms, people from the TSAB's realm with 'Berserker' lineage, et cetera), and beings personally recognized by the Hybrids as 'allies' (such as any of Amon's subordinates) were immune to the effect.

"And now, let's give our big boys a little boost!" Joker called out, pulling out what the heroes recognized as a Red Nose and a Blue Nose, tools for creating and/or empowering the monsters called Akanbe. He tossed them high, and both colorful little orbs flew over to the two big Hybrids. The Red Nose landed on and merged with the Hybrid Reaver, and the monster roared as the bluish lines along its carapace turned red, its muscles bulking up a little, its claws and mandible-fangs gaining dark-red tips, and a reddish aura clinging to it. The Blue Nose combined with the Hybrid Destroyer, and the light-blue glowing parts of its body turned to a darker blue, and a shimmering aura briefly surrounded its body before fading out of visibility.

"Now, then… let's start the show…"

The two upgraded Hybrids charged, and Kakashi moved in to intercept the Reaver while Madoka and Homura rushed together at the Destroyer. As they drew near, Joker's grin widened, and the trio found themselves trapped in a pair of matching secondary dark barriers cutting them off from the outside – Kakashi trapped one-on-one with the Reaver, and Homura & Madoka with the Destroyer. Joker then snapped his fingers, and the Heartless and Mini-Hybrids charged at Cures Happy, Sunny, and Beauty, while he then took a seat on the roof's edge and relaxed as he watched the battles.

Kakashi threw an exploding kunai at the upgraded Hybrid Reaver, but the beast shrugged off the blast with little notice, and roared as it charged at him. The shinobi leapt to the side to dodge a downward claw strike, and thrusted an electrically-charged hand forward to launch a Lightning Hound, but again it had virtually no effect. The creature opened its mouth, and formed & launched a glowing red ball of energy at Kakashi; he was surprised by the energy blast's speed, and didn't have time to get out of the way, instead having to use _Kamui_ to let the blast – as big across as his torso – phase through him and impact with the 'wall' of the barrier surrounding him & the creature, exploding with a fair amount of force. The Hybrid Reaver growled as it stared down at him, flexing its red-tipped claws.

Madoka and Homura leapt to either side to dodge a powerful bolt of Psionic Lightning fired at them by the Hybrid Destroyer. Homura was fully aware that this thing's hide and shields would be tough enough that bullets would do jack-squat, so she instead went straight to firing a blast of Fire magic. However, it seemed to do nothing, the flames breaking against the monster's body and/or barrier like water against a rock. Madoka fired a Light-type _Sagitta Magica _barrage, but it too had no apparent effect. The Hybrid Destroyer 'roared' (despite not having a mouth) and fired Dark-power lasers from the tips of its glowy tentacle-tendrils, forcing Madoka and Homura to take cover behind a Reflega spell and the buckler-shield.

An infantry-scale Hybrid around 80% the size of a Hydralisk learned the hard way that charging at Mami while she was readying a _Tiro Finalé_ was not a wise idea; after the ensuing point-blank extra-large blast of golden magical energy, there were only a few scattered pieces left of the monster. However, its brethren, and the Heartless fighting with them, kept Mami and her three allies on their toes. Cure Beauty had formed an ice sword and was using it to cut down Heartless, while Cure Sunny blasted a mini-Hybrid in the face with Sunny Fire, and Cure Happy took out another with a Happy Shower. But they were only making little dents in a big number of enemies.

Kakashi watched as a _Katon: Gōkakyū _did only a little damage, and after a few seconds he sighed and steeled himself as he realized it was time for the big guns, activating his Eternal Mangekyō. The Hybrid Reaver's claws glowed a dull-red as it swung them down at him, only for the strike and its momentum to be bounced back, making the monster stagger back and regain its balance, as a huge green spectral warrior formed around Kakashi, holding a straight sword in one hand and a spike-edged round shield in the other. Kakashi glared up at the Hybrid from within his Stage-2 _Susanō_, and then rushed forward, his spectral summon – as tall as the monster – swinging its sword at the Hybrid, crashing against its claws.

Homura frowned as she watched another Fire-type _Sagitta Magica _barrage do no damage to the upgraded Hybrid Destroyer. The big monster returned fire with another psionic bolt, and she flash-stepped to the side to dodge it (thanks to all the speed training she'd undergone, she no longer needed to use her Time Stop for every single dodge or flanking attack). She stared at the monster as Madoka attacked it; how the heck was it doing this? As she looked close, however, she thought she saw something when the Destroyer shrugged off a blast of pink magical power from Madoka; this could warrant a closer look…

The _Susanō_'s shield proved more than capable of blocking anything the Hybrid Reaver threw at it. Kakashi went on the offensive, swinging his _Susanō_'s blade, and the Hybrid roared as the giant glowing green sword cut into its side, drawing a fair amount of dark-red blood. The monster tried to attack again, but Kakashi's _Susanō_ used a shield-bash to stun it and knock it back, followed by slashing the sharp spikes along the shield's edge across the creature's chest, leaving another wound. Finally, the glowing green energy sword was thrusted right through the center of the Hybrid Reaver's chest, piercing its heart. For good measure, Kakashi then swung the sword upward, bisecting the monster's head. The now-dead Hybrid toppled over backward, and Kakashi disengaged his _Susanō_. After looking at it for a few seconds, he then used _Kamui_ to teleport outside the secondary barrier, joining the four girls in the fight against the lower-level enemies.

Making ready for her little plan, Homura fired off a Light-type _Sagitta Magica_ strike, the purple magic projectiles curving through the air toward the Hybrid Destroyer. The instant before they hit, she froze time, and moved in to get a closer look. And just as she'd suspected, the blue glowing portions of the Hybrid and its barrier-shield that covered the area the blast was about to hit now had a purplish hue. She unfroze time, watching the blasts do no damage, and then when Madoka fired a large burst of her own pink magic at the beast's head, Homura froze time again, spotting that as the blast was mere feet from its target, the bluish parts of the Hybrid's head now had a pink hue. _That's_ how it was doing it! She unfroze again, and telepathically called out to her partner.

'Madoka! I've figured out how it's doing this! Its psychic barrier-shield-thing somehow copies the energy signatures of our attacks, and matches them to cancel out what we throw at it! Looks like it can only do one at a time, though…'

'Then we need something that hits with a different energy signature…' Madoka replied. 'Or… both of our energies mixed together…' She jumped to the side to dodge a psionic bolt. 'Homura, I think it's time we use the attack that the Cures taught us.'

Homura jumped in to beside Madoka. "Madoka, we don't even know if we can do it" she said. "They only showed us how it works a few days ago, and we haven't actually done it yet. Hell, we don't even know if we _can_; what if it's something that only PreCures can do?"

"We'll be okay" Madoka replied with a smile as she grasped her partner's hands. "I just know it. The harmony you and I share will allow us to pull it off."

Homura blushed, and then gave an uneasy little nod. The two of them broke to turn their attention back to the Hybrid.

(MUSIC: _HeartCatch PreCure _OST 1 – "Floral Power Fortissimo")

"Let's bring this thing down!" Madoka shouted.

The two of them leapt away to dodge another psionic bolt, and they fired a simultaneous, equal-sized barrage of _Sagitta Magica_. The bolts of pink and purple light crashed against the upgraded Hybrid Destroyer, which groaned as it was forced to take the hits. The two girls then hit it with a magic-charged double falling kick, making it flinch and take a step back. The beast fired Darkness lasers from its tendril-tips again, and the two girls moved about with expert skill, dodging the attacks. A fireball and a Strike Raid were thrown out next, hitting simultaneously and thus both doing damage. Homura then tossed out a _Katon: Gōkakyū _that was strengthened by a burst of Wind magic from Madoka, the flames and concussive force making the Hybrid 'roar' out as it staggered, now visibly injured. Finally, the two girls stood beside each other, calling on and synchronizing their magic in the way they were taught. Their auras flared brightly, as they finished preparations and called out:

"_PreCure: Floral Powerrr… FORTISSIMOOOOO!-!_"

Madoka and Homura surged forward through the air, enveloped in energy, and then seemed to merge together into a heart-shaped mass of pink and purple light. The attack flew forward with lightning speed, punching clean through the Hybrid Destroyer's chest, leaving a glowing/flash pink-and-purple heart-shaped hole. The two girls came to a stop on the other side in the form of glowing them-shaped masses of light, and then with a flourishing pose they returned to their normal states together, and a split-second later a powerful magical explosion engulfed the Hybrid, which rapidly came apart into motes of psionic and magical light. The secondary Dark-Barrier came down as well, freeing the girls to join the others.

"Impressive…" Joker was clapping. "Not bad at all. It looks like I'd need something more than a pair of upgraded Hybrids to deal with you folks. …Thankfully, that's exactly what I've got!"

Kakashi and the girls gathered together, readying themselves.

"What are you gonna pull out of your silly hat next?" Cure Sunny frowned.

"I'm so glad you asked, my dear! Behold! Amon-sama's newest creation! _Come forth! Super-Hybrid!-!_"

A very large Dark Portal formed in the air above the battlefield, and out of it dropped a humongous monster. Unlike the ~40-foot-tall 'standard' Hybrids, this beast was at least 100 feet in height, standing on four thick, armored legs like an Ultralisk. In a centaur-like configuration, its upper body emerged from the forward top of the lower half, a muscled, chitin-armored structure with two arms with claw-tipped hands and two larger limbs that ended in huge stabbing blade-spikes, and a head with four horizontally-aligned glowing red eyes, a three-jawed mouth filled with huge fangs, and a head-crest with glowing blue portions like a Hybrid Destroyer's. The Super-Hybrid let out a deep, deafening roar augmented by its psychic energy signature, and some of the girls had to fight hard against the instinctive urge to run away as fast as they could, driven by the powerful primal fear that the Hybrid's 'Aura' psychically forced into their heads (as well as the natural fear that came, without any psychic outside help, from being up against something so frighteningly huge and powerful).

"And just to stack the deck even more…" Joker said, pulling a Yellow Akanbe Nose out of his hat. He held it high, and it shot out of his hand and flew over to the Super-Hybrid's head, merging into it. The beast gained additional yellow-tinted 'armor' on its limbs and upper torso, its head-crest gaining a yellow outline, and its power-level jumped a little more.

"This is gonna be bad…" Cure Happy murmured, trembling a little.

The magically-augmented Super-Hybrid rushed forward, its footsteps shaking the earth, and it speared one of its massive blade-claws down at the group. As everyone leapt out of the way, it fired eye beams at Homura, who (barely) managed to get her Buckler Shield up in time to block the blasts. She, Kakashi, and Cure Sunny then fired off three fireballs at the monster's upper body, but it crossed its armored arms in front of its face and chest, successfully blocking the shots. A Beauty Blizzard from Cure Beauty and blasts of Light magic from Madoka, Mami, and Cure Happy fared no better, and the beast then channeled psionic power into its forelegs, reared up and then slammed them to the ground, releasing a shockwave of destructive energy racing out across the ground that the heroes barely reacted fast enough to jump over.

"PreCure: Sunny Fire Burning!-!"

A large wave of focused flame shot out, engulfing the upper body of the Super-Hybrid, but the upgraded monster emerged with only some slight singeing to show for it. It then returned the favor, breathing out a stream of yellow-tinged fire at the PreCures. However, the girls instantly vanished and reappeared elsewhere in a chain of held hands with Homura, well out of the fire's path. The beast then took a barrage of magic-musket shots to the face, but this did little more than annoy and temporarily blind it, and it swung one of its blade-claws at Mami, who was yanked out of the way by Kakashi. Then, the Super-Hybrid curved all four of its arms together, and a roiling sphere of psionic and dark-magical energy formed at the point between them, in front of its chest, growing rapidly. Kakashi's eyes widened in panic, and he immediately telepathically called everyone over to him. He formed a Stage-2 _Susanō_ – the highest he could presently go – around himself and the girls, just as the Super-Hybrid fired the large energy ball. Upon impact, a huge explosion engulfed the group. After several moments, the smoke cleared, revealing that Kakashi's _Susanō _had withstood the blast, though it showed visible damage.

"This is bad" Cure Beauty said. "We'll probably need an ultimate-level finisher attack to bring this monster down. But Peace and March are busy on another assignment…"

The Super-Hybrid began to move forward again, but then a barrage of a few hundred Fire-type _Sagitta Magica_ bolts came in from above, crashing against the monster at multiple spots and making it stagger back a step and try to shield itself. Teana flew by, firing a Crossfire Shot barrage at the Super-Hybrid's face to keep it off-guard for a little longer, and then came in for a landing beside Kakashi and the magical girls.

"Hey guys," she said, "I brought some help. Good thing you taught me how to transport people, Kakashi-san."

She then promptly ejected four people from _Kamui_: Cures Melody, Rhythm, Beat, and Muse, with Melody carrying the enchanted music-box that held Crescendo Tone. The four stared up in shock at the huge monster, before turning to each other and nodding.

"Okay, girls," Cure Melody said, "let's show this thing the full power of a PreCure team!"

(MUSIC: _Suite PreCure _OST 2 – Track 20 "Suite Session Ensemble")

Just as with the HeartCatch Orchestra used in the big fight two days ago, the girls and their target appeared to be magically 'transported' into a starry realm of magic and points of light. The quartet stood in the middle of a giant pink magic-circle, with Crescendo Tone's box floating above the center between them. The music-box-like object opened, as the girls encircled it and held their hands out to it.

"_Idé yo, subete no oto no minamoto yo!_" (Come forth, source of all sounds!)

The eight Fairy tones hovered around the open music-box in a half-circle, simultaneously firing thin beams of light in their respective colors into the jewel at the center. Cure Melody ran her hand across the little multicolored keyboard at the gem's base. The magic-circle at their feet brightened and spun.

(0:18)

Then, Crescendo Tone emerged from the music-box's jewel, flying straight up into the air. As she ascended, she rapidly grew to a tremendous size, hovering over the battlefield. The four Cures floated up to join her, hanging in the air beside each other in front of her, their hands clasped to their chests as light glowed from within.

(0:33)

"_Todoké! Kibō no Symphony!_" (Reach out! Symphony of Hope!)

The girls threw their hands forward, and the gathered light coalesced into a wave of energy, which took the form of a shimmering multicolored keyboard-like pathway reaching out through the starry space. They flew forward over it, side by side, as the giant-ified Crescendo Tone flew over them. Their magical energies flared and synchronized as they readied their ultimate attack:

"_PRECURE: SUITE SESSION ENSEMBLE CRESCENDO!-!-!_"

(1:09)

The girls moved upward, phasing through the gem of Crescendo Tone's 'forehead', and then the huge golden being accelerated greatly, her golden glow becoming much brighter. As she sped forward, the four PreCures merged into her gritted their teeth as they focused the awesome power now flowing around and through them. Their bodies flashed gold, and Crescendo Tone transformed into a winged mass of golden fire rocketing toward the Super-Hybrid with incredible speed. Upon impact, a brilliant flash engulfed the giant monster, as the extra bits of 'armor' were immediately blown off and vaporized, along with chunks of its natural chitinous armor. White light enveloped it like a silhouette, crackling with power, as the girls reformed behind it in the form of white silhouettes, and with a flourishing pose they returned to normal:

"_Finalé_!"

(1:40)

A sparkly explosion engulfed the Super-Hybrid, a mass of white light shooting upwards and shrinking, to reveal five captive Hearts that had been used to fuel the creature. Hummy, who'd emerged from Teana's _Kamui_ along with the girls, cast her purification spell on them, and the now-cleansed Hearts floated away and vanished, going wherever it was Hearts went. As everything else returned to normal, the Suite Cures were joined by the others, all of them staring down Joker, who gritted his teeth and frowned.

"Tch! Don't think that'll work every time!" he said. "There won't always be a full PreCure team on hand for every Super-Hybrid to be deployed in the war to come, and there's very little else at your alliance's disposal that can slay creatures of such might, even without the little boost I gave this one!"

He then vanished through a Dark Portal, returning to his master.

"That was so cool!" Cure Happy said. "I wonder when you girls and Tsubomi-san's group will get to see _our_ finisher in action…"

"It'll happen when it happens" Sunny replied. "…I just hope it doesn't take _too_ long…"

"Still," Beauty said, "Joker is alive again, and working for Amon now…"

"Considering what a sadistic psychopath you girls' records showed him as," Teana said, "that could be big trouble. He might be even better than Narud was at psychologically manipulating and attacking people."

"No 'might be' about it…" Cure Sunny murmured.

"And now Amon's got a whole new class of Hybrid," Kakashi added, "one that's much larger, more durable, and more powerful than the 'standard' ones. I guess he's trying to make up for the loss of the Zerg…"

"But from what you guys' intel says," Cure Rhythm replied, "it'll likely be months before he's made enough Hybrid forces to really go on the offensive, right?"

"Yeah" Teana replied. "Let's just hope he and the Reapers don't somehow show up in force at the same time. …Unless they start fighting each other; that'd be good for us." She grinned. "Imagine a 'ham-off' between Amon and Harbinger…"

"Even better," Mami suggested, "add the Gravemind to that."

"Oh man, the galaxy could not survive the sheer amount of scenery-chewing that would ensue from that."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Realm PC-5 – Kibōgahana – Outside the Tsukikage Residence**

**Same Time as Above Battle**

Inside a local-scale Dimension-Shift Barrier, a lone TSAB foot-soldier fired his standard-issue Storage Device as quickly as he could against the large force of Unversed closing in. His teammate was down and wounded behind him, having been taken out of commission by a sneak attack a couple minutes earlier. And behind him and his downed comrade, Haruna Tsukikage huddled against a wall with her youngest daughter.

Yamika Tsukikage, formerly 'Dark PreCure' before her purification, didn't know what to do. It had only been a few days since her second life began, when the HeartCatch Orchestra not only freed her of the _Edo Tensei_'s control and fully revived her, but purified her of the corruptive Darkness, as well as (somehow) de-aging her physically by about two years. She'd been scared that her mother (it had been weird to think of even _having_ a mother) would reject her because of what she'd done in her past life, or the nature of the connection she had with father, but Haruna Tsukikage had in fact been overjoyed to have another daughter. Yuri had taken it surprisingly well, too; she was actually quite happy with being a big sister, and it was fairly easy for her to separate in her mind the girl Yamika was now from who & what she used to be.

Tired of fighting, and heartbroken that she'd failed to save her father, Yamika had been given a chance at a new life, one of peace and a loving family. But now, with her sister gone in another realm with her teammates for a few days, and only one being-overwhelmed 'red shirt' protecting them, she didn't know how she & mother were going to make it out of this. After her previous life, and what happened when she was under the _Edo Tensei_, she didn't really want to fight anymore. But now, when she again had someone precious she wanted to protect, but no way of doing so, she wished she had power again.

'Please… I… I want to protect her…' she thought desperately, closing her eyes and clutching her hands to her chest, as a pack of Scrappers got past the TSAB soldier and went for her & Haruna. 'I couldn't protect father… but now I have mother, and big sister, and her friends – _my_ friends – and I… _I need the power to protect them!-!_'

There was a sudden flare of green & purple magical energy and light, tossing the approaching Scrappers back a few meters. Haruna Tsukikage stared in shock as Yamika floated a few inches off the ground, suffused in a two-colored glow. Yamika then got a shock of her own as a spectral figure appeared in front of her: the ghost of Yuri's old fairy partner, Cologne. He looked her in the eyes, and after a few seconds he nodded with a little smile. Green light coalesced into a small circular green token – a PreCure Seed – that floated down into Yamika's hand. In her other hand, a flash of light deposited a 'Heart Perfume' item. She stared at the two objects in dawning comprehension, and when she looked up Cologne's spirit had disappeared. After a few seconds, though, her expression became a determined one as she glared at the Unversed, and she went through the motions while calling on her new power:

"_PreCure: Open My Heart!_"

Swirling light enveloped Yamika, and after several seconds it dissipated to reveal her new form: a combat-outfit in the style of Cures Blossom, Marine, and Sunshine, white with a purple bow on the chest, a green skirt, white and purple boots with little green flowers on the outer ankles, and knee-high white socks with green borders at the top, with magically-turned bright green hair down to her shoulders with a purple bow on top, and bright green eyes.

"The flower blooming in the moon's shadow… _Cure Nightshade!_"

The Scrapper pack charged at the newly-'born' PreCure, only for Cure Nightshade to unleash a magic-charged whirlwind kick that sent them all flying, some of them dispersing into Darkness particles. She then charged in to join the main fight, firing a barrage of green and purple magic bolts that caught the Unversed off-guard, destroying several, and then leaping in with a falling kick that took out an Axe Flapper.

With Nightshade's help, the tide was quickly turned, the Unversed being quickly wiped out in great numbers. Within minutes, the only one left was the attack's leader: a Form-1 Iron Imprisoner. Yamika focused her will and manifested a colorful staff-like weapon: her Nightshade Tact. She spun the spinner at the base, her power gathering at the tip, and traced a flower shape in the air, which was then 'pulled into' the tip, causing it to glow bright green. Unnoticed by her, a small personnel-scale teleportation rune-circle appeared off to the side, depositing Cure Moonlight ready to fight. She stared in shock at the new PreCure, and her shock doubled as she recognized her as Yamika, just as the girl fired her attack:

"_PreCure: Green Forte Wave!_"

The oblong bright-green blast of magic energy with a flower-shaped 'tail' streaked through the air at great speed, impacting the Form-1 Iron Imprisoner and trapping it against what appeared to be a magically-manifested giant green- and purple-petaled flower. Cure Nightshade spun the spinner of her Nightshade Tact, and the 'flower' floated up, spinning rapidly. The magic enveloped and consumed the large Unversed, destroying it. She let out a breath as she relaxed, and then noticed, to her mild surprise, as her big sister came running up.

"Yamika…" Cure Moonlight breathed out. "Y-You're…"

The shorter girl nodded. "Cure Nightshade…" she replied. "This is the power born from my desire to protect mother from those monsters. It feels… so different from my old power, in a good way. I can fight alongside you now, Yuri… if you want me to, that is…"

Yuri hugged her. "If that's what you want, little sister, I'd be happy to have that."

With the battle over, Haruna came over to her two daughters, embracing her youngest one right after she de-transformed, while the Bureau man started trying to get his partner up on his feet again.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Realm PC-6c – Minor Land's Realm – **_**Starshot **_**– Starboard Lounge**

**Day 5 – 11:50 AM**

Homura looked up from her seat on one of the lounge's couches as Kakashi had a seat on the one adjacent to her.

"So, Akemi-san…" he said. "A little while ago, I decided to use the Wide Area Search spell the Bureau folks taught me to see if I could find an outer 'edge' to the other dimension of _Kamui_. I didn't find that – yet – but I _did_ find a vast assortment of weapons and gear, along with a few other supplies. I did not put them there, nor did any of the other Sharingan-users we have…"

After a few seconds, Homura's eyes widened a bit as she got what he was implying. "Are you saying…?"

Kakashi nodded. "Akemi-san, your buckler, the one that links to subspace to let you store weapons and supplies? It links to the exact same subspace dimension that the Mangekyō technique _Kamui_ does. In addition to your time-manipulation ability, you've also been using a magic-powered version of _Kamui_ since you first got your powers. And since you can do that, it might be possible for you to use other applications of the ability, like transporting _people_…"

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

Next Time: the climactic battle against Ruin, Karidé, and Malia


	8. Malia

NOTE: There will be a 'bonus chapter' after this one, showing a few things that take place in the oncoming ~4-month Time Skip between the end of this chapter and the start of Book 27. …And I know there'll be a few people who panic unless I clarify: that does not mean you will have to wait four months for the next Book (probably); it means that in-universe, the events that kick off Book 27 will take place around four months after the battle in this chapter.

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Realm PC-6c – Minor Land's Realm – **_**Starshot**_**, Starboard Lounge**

**Day 5 – 3:15 PM**

"So…" Yayoi said. "How exactly did it go again, Hatake-san? The 'unrequited love chain' amongst your students?"

Kakashi sighed, thinking about the tangle his students' feelings were in. "Well," he replied, "when they started out at age 12, Naruto had a crush on Sakura, who found him immature and annoying, while Sakura had feelings for Sasuke, which he saw as a bother more than anything else. Now, however, after Naruto's and Sakura's emotional maturing over the past few years, and the whole debacle with Sasuke… During and after the fights against the 10-Tails, Obito, and Madara, Sasuke made his switch back to the good guys' side, but… well, to be blunt, he was an ass about it. His dismissive rudeness toward Sakura during the final battles eroded what was left of Sakura's feelings for him. At one point, he said something that was the last straw, and it led to Sakura snapping and hammering him with a punch that shattered his Stage-0 _Susanō _and fractured quite a few bones; she then chewed him out, making it abundantly clear that she wasn't going to put up with his crap anymore and that, on a personal level, she can't stand him now.

"With her old love for Sasuke shattered into a hundred pieces, Sakura has realized the feelings she's recently developed for Naruto, now that he's changed for the better from how he used to be. But, Naruto has 'fallen out of love' and moved on from Sakura, and doesn't return her feelings any longer. _Meanwhile_, Sakura's little explosion helped knock a little sense into Sasuke; in addition, learning the hard way that she _was_ strong enough, physically and emotionally, to deal major damage to him or Naruto made an impression on him, too. Furthermore, there's the change for the better his personality made from getting his big brother back, as well as getting Teana & Tiida as two more sibling figures; you'll notice he's a lot more patient and personable and such than when he first showed up on the 10-Tails battlefield. Now, all these changes and realizations have led to _him_ developing feelings for _Sakura_… which she is having none of, by the way; she refuses to believe he's changed.

"So basically, three or four years ago, Naruto had unrequited feelings for Sakura, who in turn had unrequited feelings for Sasuke. Now, Sasuke has unrequited feelings for Sakura, who has unrequited feelings for Naruto. It's… a bit of a mess, really."

"No kidding…" the blonde replied.

"Hey guys," Teana suddenly popped in through the bow-ward door of the lounge, "big news! We've pinpointed where Malia and company are hiding! It's a quarry a ways to the east; we're putting together the attack force now, so come on!"

"How are we getting there?" Yayoi asked.

"Well, teleportation is out, due to a 'port-jamming field around the quarry, so we're getting some Warthogs, Ghosts, and a couple Makos together, and going the 'hard' way over land. There are some nasty air currents over the path, but we might be able to take a few Falcons and Banshees along too, so long as they stay under 150 meters altitude."

"Why all the military hardware?" Kakashi asked. "We expecting trouble along the way?"

"Yeah, the ship's long-range scanners detected a whole mess of Heartless and Unversed, mingled with local dark creatures. We're gonna have to punch through them to reach the quarry. Anyway, you two had better get ready; we're moving out soon."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Day 5 – 3:50 PM**

(MUSIC: _Legend of Zelda 25__th__ Anniversary Symphony _– "Gerudo Valley")

Beneath the grey overcast sky, a sizable force of ground vehicles – two Keyblade Gliders, three Ghosts, two M35 Makos, and four Warthogs (one chaingun, one Gauss, and two transports) – and a blue hedgehog sped across the empty wasteland terrain, while two UH-144 Falcons, three Sangheili Banshees, a large white dragon, and seven people – Nanoha, Fate, Alicia, Negi, Goten, Trunks, and Vegeta – flew low overhead. Teana swiveled the M99 Vulcan HMG she was manning, looking around, as Sarah drove the Warthog forward, Marie riding shotgun with Charon in Power-Beam mode at the ready. Sonic and a Ghost piloted by Ahsoka moved alongside them, while a Banshee piloted by Reisen flew overhead. Aqua and Laicixa's Keyblade Gliders moved in formation with Twilight-Link's Ghost, with the Falcon carrying the HeartCatch Cures directly over them.

Friedrich, in his 'unsealed' form, carried Caro & Erio while keeping pace with the M35 Mako driven by Tiida with Cures Happy, Sunny, and March aboard. Not too far away, Kakashi (who'd recently passed his civilian and military/combat driving tests) drove the Gauss Warthog, with Cure Beauty manning the coilgun and Peace in the passenger seat, as the Arbiter's Ghost moved as escort, swapping between the Gauss 'Hog's left and right sides periodically. Two Transport Hogs – one driven by Subaru and carrying the Suite Cures and Kaede K. in shotgun, the other carrying Team Madoka, with Mami in the passenger seat and Sunset driving – drove on either side of Team RWBY's Mako, driven by Blake and with Yang on the gun. Lastly, the second Falcon, carrying Erika, Timmy, Mariko, Anya, and Young-Link, flew in-between the Banshees flown by Sasuke & Itachi.

"Okay everyone," Nanoha announced as she flew alongside the HeartCatch Cures' Falcon, "scanners say that once we crest that ridge up ahead, there's a whole bunch of hostiles waiting for us, so be ready."

The ridge in question was straight ahead, blocking off the view of the lower-elevation area beyond that would lead to the target quarry. Approaching it, Sarah floored the accelerator of her, Marie, and Teana's Warthog, racing up the natural ramp.

(0:48)

The Chaingun Warthog was the first to pass over the ridge, launching off the top and getting about a second's worth of air before landing with a bounce on its spinning tires. The instant the DDF attack force passed into this lower-elevation area, they spotted the very large horde of dark creatures and Unversed, with a few Heartless mixed in, that currently populated the stretch of wasteland between them and the distant quarry. The hostile beings quickly noticed the oncoming pack of military vehicles and personnel, and immediately moved to attack, projectiles and Darkness energy blasts being fired/thrown by those that could. The attack force promptly returned fire, with bullets, plasma bolts, explosive shells, and magic bolts being sent out.

Timmy and Anya manned the door guns of Falcon 2, with Anya using hers to shoot down a pack of Axe Flappers trying to attack the gunship from the right while Timmy fired down at ground targets. Ahsoka fired her Ghost's plasma cannons to clear out a pack of mixed enemies in her path, and then – warned by the Force – abruptly decelerated to avoid a concussive 'mortar' of Darkness launched by a larger local Dark-Beast, which was then taken down by a blast from Mako 2's cannon. Another Dark-Beast was slain by a pair of Fuel-Rod shells from Reisen and Itachi's Banshees, while Sasuke's Banshee and Friedrich bombarded a group of Bruisers. A couple packs of 'Magnum Loader' Heartless rode in, racing alongside some of the vehicles and taking swings with their arm-mounted blades or trying to sideswipe-tackle them. The Arbiter and Twilight-Link drew their swords with one hand each, sliding their Ghosts in on either side of one pack and worked their way inward, cutting the rolling Heartless down until they met in the middle. Elsewhere, the other Magnum Loader pack was closing in on the Chaingun Hog, only for Sonic to move in and use a Boost Attack to blast through the lot of them; Marie, who'd seen him coming, used her Omnitool to play a perfectly-timed "bowling pins" sound effect as the hedgehog hero sent the mobile Heartless flying.

A shot from the Gauss Hog's coilgun decapitated a large Dark-Beast, and a Cursed Coach up ahead was destroyed by two long-range shots of Mako 1's cannon. Sangheili-Carbine and magic-musket shots from the two Transport Hogs' shotgun-riders picked off infantry-scale enemies trying to shoot up at the flyers overhead, while Aqua and Laicixa used their Keyblade Gliders' magic-bolt blasters to take down a pair of fast-running Dark Beasts that had been trying to get in behind the Warthogs. Goten, Trunks, & Alicia flew close together, covering each other as they fired at targets of opportunity, as did Nanoha, Fate, & Negi. Vegeta flew alongside Falcon 1, from which Cures Moonlight and Nightshade used the door-mounted grenade launchers to help clear the field below.

(2:06)

"I can see the quarry!" Negi called out via radio and telepathy. "We're almost there; keep pushing!"

High-explosive shells from the two Makos wiped out a large cluster of infantry-scale Unversed up ahead. The three Banshees strafed another group, while Twilight-Link and Ahsoka used their Ghosts as boosted battering rams to punch a hole through a line of Scrappers trying to block a Transport Hog's way. From the Transport Hog's passenger section, Homura pulled an M19 SSM launcher out of her subspace storage and fired two rockets at a large Dark-Beast off to the side, stopping its attempt to sideswipe Laicixa as she passed by it. Teana used the M99 Vulcan to bring down a flock of avian Dark-Beasts trying to get behind Falcon 1, while Reika fired the M68 Gauss Cannon to take out three Buckle Bruisers up ahead with one shot.

Sonic used a chain of Homing Attacks to bring down a Dark-Beast, followed by a Boost Attack to take out a pack of various smaller Unversed. Falcon 1 used its guns to take out a pack of Magnum Loaders trying to come up behind Aqua and the Arbiter, while a Form-2 Iron Imprisoner up ahead was taken out by a strong _ki_ blast from Vegeta, and Falcon 2's chin-gun and grenade launchers made short work of another Cursed Coach. Goten & Trunks flew in low, dealing with several wolf-like Dark-Beasts up close, and Nanoha & Negi sent out a barrage of Accell Shooter bolts and Light-type _Sagitta Magica_ to clear out a large flock of airborne Unversed and Heartless up ahead. Fate & Alicia flew lower, moving in formation with Laicixa's Keyblade Glider, and the three sisters worked together to carve a path through the now-dwindling enemy numbers. Friedrich blasted a large avian Dark-Beast, while a second one trying to attack the dragon from above was hit by a lightning blast from Erio, leaving it open to HMG fire from the Chaingun 'Hog.

Within another minute, the final 'wall' of enemies was wiped out by one last volley of fire from the DDF force. The flyers set down near the edge of the quarry pit, with the vehicles (and Sonic) pulling up soon after. Everyone (except the two Falcons' pilots, who stayed to wait) got out of the vehicles, and began making their way down into the quarry. A few minutes later, once everyone was down in the quarry pit, they made their way toward the center. And there, they found three black-cloaked figures waiting.

"You found us" Malia said with a neutral tone as she and Karidé removed their cloaks. "Took you a while…"

"Who's the new one?" Alicia asked, pointing to the third, tallest cloaked figure.

"Oh, you don't recognize me now, 'sister'?" the cloaked woman replied in a familiar yet different voice.

She then opened her cloak and lowered her hood, revealing a tall and busty young woman with long black hair and gold eyes. It took the group a few seconds to realize they were looking at Ruin; she had somehow been physically aged up, going from how Fate had been at age 12 to an almost-mirror image of how she was now at 19. Her long black hair looked a bit more unkempt, however, and a close inspection of her body language and expression (a malicious grin with eyes slightly widened, compared to the calm & composed smirk she used to have) hinted that she was possibly a bit… unstable at the moment.

"You like?" she purred. "Master Xehanort gave me an age-up and a power boost; before, my power level was only that of what my original was when I was born from her around seven years ago, but now, Fate, I am as strong as you currently are! …And that means I'm stronger than you are now, Uchiha Tiida" she hissed his name.

"Um…" Tiida replied. "Actually, I wasn't fighting at 100% full power last time, just what _was_ my maximum back at the end of my first life. In truth, with the training I've gotten since my resurrection, my power level's equal to Fate-san's now. And therefore, equal to yours now as well."

Ruin's eye twitched.

"So what now?" Sayaka asked. "Are you three gonna summon a swarm of Heartless and Unversed and Grimm against us?"

"We couldn't find a way to mass-control the Grimm" Karidé replied. "We can't figure out how to gain control of all of them at once; we can assert control over individual Grimm, but we have to get close to them to do so, and if they get outside of a certain distance from us, control is lost. Master Xehanort has chosen to deem that minor goal a failed enterprise and move on with other ideas."

Team RWBY sighed in relief, hearing that the Grimm would _not_ be getting a central commanding intelligence behind them in the foreseeable future.

"In addition to that," Ruin said, "it's a bit of a shame all the local 'Dark-Beasts' can't survive outside of this Realm; they'd have been nice additions, too…"

"Instead," Malia said, "we'll be dealing with you personally."

"You're kidding, right?" Ahsoka said. "The three of you against all of us?"

"Well, not all at once…" Ruin replied.

She then snapped her fingers, and a large Dark Barrier sprang up around the area, extending almost to the far 'wall' of the huge quarry pit; however, its near edge was positioned such that it only encapsulated those DDF fighters who'd been within a certain distance of the three evil girls – Madoka, Homura, Ruby, Yang, and Cures Blossom, Melody, & Happy – while trapping everyone else outside. Malia, Karidé, and Ruin leapt back to near the middle of the enclosed area, getting some distance from the heroines.

"So it's come to this moment…" Malia said, looking at Madoka and Homura. "I can't wait to put you down, Kaname, just like my Heartless half did to your friend."

Madoka was quiet, head bowed in thought with a grim expression on her face.

"You girls really think three on seven will end well for you?" Yang asked.

"No matter your numbers," Karidé replied, "our Darkness and fury will overcome you."

"I'm stronger now than I've ever been …" Ruin said.

"You're not as strong as Dune, Noise, or Pierrot" Cure Happy replied. "And we beat them."

"This is it…" Cure Blossom said. "Is everyone ready?"

"Ready as we're gonna be" Ruby replied, making sure her Crescent Rose was fully loaded.

(FINAL BATTLE PHASE 1 MUSIC: _Naruto Shippūden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 _– "He Who Howls and Rages")

Madoka looked up at the enemy trio, especially at Malia, a calm and grimly determined glare on her face.

"We'll finish this" she said, as she summoned her Keyblade.

Malia summoned her 'Rumbling Rose' Keyblade. "Come, then" she replied.

The seven heroines and the three villainesses began their charge towards each other. Ruin fired a Photon Lancer barrage, and Homura & Tsubomi countered with _Sagitta Magica_ and Blossom Shooter; most of the opposing projectiles hit each other, with the few that made it past being blocked by Shield spells from Karidé and Madoka. As they all closed in, Ruby lunged forward and swung her scythe at Malia, who grunted as she blocked the forceful blow and then tried to wrap a conjured thorny vine around Ruby's neck. Homura leapt in, using a kunai to cut through the vine and allowing Ruby to jump back, while she then lashed out with a kick that made Malia stagger, but when she went for a follow-up attack Ruin appeared and kicked her away in return.

Karidé used her vectors to block a few fire-bolts from Yang, and then jumped to the side to dodge a falling axe-kick from Cure Happy. The Smile-Cure leader than fired a short blast of pink magic, which Karidé countered with a purple blast of Darkness magic, the two blasts exploding as they met halfway. Cure Happy then cried out as she was knocked down by a Strike Raid from Ruin, and Cure Blossom fired shots at Ruin to stop her follow-up attack and give Happy the few seconds she needed to get back up and get away. Madoka and Ruby then leapt in to intercept Ruin and Karidé, respectively, with Ruby using her speed and her blade to dodge or block Karide's translucent purple vectors, while Madoka gave ground and used quick-fired Light bolts to keep Ruin from overtaking her.

Cure Blossom and Homura went at Malia, the latter using a plasma sword to clash against the fallen _Puella Magi_'s Keyblade. Homura jumped back, drawing a pistol from her subspace storage and firing it as fast as she could move her trigger finger, but Malia was able to move her Keyblade fast enough to block/deflect each bullet. Ruin broke off from her short duel against Madoka and attacked Homura, who raised and activated her buckler-shield to block the Dark Keyblade strike. Cure Melody lashed out a Ruin with a magic-charged kick hit Ruin in the side, making her wince and return with a swing of her other Keyblade that Melody leapt back from, while Cure Blossom struck with a magic-charged punch that visibly cracked the Dark Shield that Malia formed to block it. Meanwhile, Madoka hit Karidé with a fairly powerful _Fūton_ jutsu that sent her flying a good distance, skidding to a stop on her feet and growling as she ran a hand through her messed-up hair.

Ruin and Malia leapt over to where Karidé was, and the three of them briefly synchronized their energies. Their power flared, and a large black-lined Summoning Circle appeared above them. A huge black shape shot up into the air from it, quickly resolving into the Minor Land realm's badlands' largest and most powerful Dark-Beast: a huge jet-black dragon-like creature with glowing red eyes, which roared down at the heroines as its huge, slowly-flapping wings glowed a dull red with flight magic. It breathed out a barrage of large fireballs down at them, forcing the girls to scatter and move. As Homura was making ninja-leaps backward to dodge the ones being sent at her, she pulled a Spartan Laser out of her subspace and tossed it to Yang, who immediately started charging it.

As the dragon-monster banked to shift its fire to Ruby and Madoka, Yang fired a perfectly-placed and -timed shot from the heavy directed-energy weapon right at the exposed narrowest portion of its left wing near where it attached to the body, blasting through and blowing the appendage clean off. The beast plummeted to the ground, landing on its four feet with an earth-shaking thud. It hissed in rage, and then started charging like a bull right for Yang and Cure Blossom, the shots fired at it bouncing right off. Suddenly, outside the barrier, Sasuke formed a Stage-2 _Susanō_ and fired a chakra arrow that was instantly warped away by Kakashi's _Kamui_. A second later, another swirling warp-vortex appeared inside the barrier, right in front of Yang & Blossom, and the _Susanō _Arrow shot out of it, shooting straight & true and piercing through the center of the charging dragon-beast's skull, killing it instantly. Momentum carried it forward, skidding to a stop along the ground and then vanishing in a huge burst of Darkness particles.

The three villainesses then got a bit of a surprise as Homura came in from above, falling toward them with her buckler-shield held out in front… and then the shutter in the center opened, and from the now-glowing circular jewel inside there was a visible swirling effect propagating outward as space-time warped, and from the subspace realm of _Kamui_ emerged Cures Happy and Melody, attacks charged and ready at point-blank range:

"_PreCure: Happy Shower!_"

"_PreCure: Miracle Heart Arpeggio!_"

Cure Happy's bright-pink beam of Light-type magical energy smashed into Karidé, blasting her back a considerable distance, while Cure Melody's two-colored, heart-shaped blast of Light magic pushed Ruin back, 'burning' into her, and then exploded with a flash of light. As the two attacks were Purification-subtype magic, they did considerable damage to the two pure-Darkness beings; Ruin staggered to her unsteady feet, looking disheveled & weak, and retreated through a Dark Portal, while Karidé, who was weaker and more 'fragile' than Ruin, was visibly trying to hold herself together, her body 'glitching' (Miyuki, remembering an old liked show, mentally compared it to what Digimon did in season 3 when near-mortally wounded) as the Darkness particles that made up her being were struggling to keep themselves connected to each other. After a few seconds, she too vanished through a Dark Portal.

(PHASE 1 MUSIC END)

Malia, seeing how badly outnumbered she was now, hurriedly cast a spell that was a bit of a gamble: a unique type of rapidly-expanding Dark Barrier that would force all but three randomly-chosen enemies out of the primary Barrier battlefield, giving her a slightly more reasonable number of targets. Homura, Yang, and Cures Blossom & Happy cried out in surprise as a solid wall of force sent them flying out of the Dark Barrier, stuck outside with the other spectators, while the expanding force passed right over Madoka, Cure Melody, and Ruby, leaving them in the Barrier with Malia.

"It's just me now, Kaname" Malia said. She rushed toward the trio, charging her fist with dark power. "No more screwing around! I'll show you true power!"

As she got close, she lashed out, but Madoka caught her punch with a hand infused and enshrouded in Light-type magic, dissipating the force. Madoka looked at her with calm anger, almost what one would expect on a disappointed parent.

"Why don't you wake up?" Madoka asked Malia, holding onto her wrist so she couldn't get away. "You're hurting people; what have they done to you?"

Malia yanked herself free, jumping back several feet, growling.

"I know you're upset, and lonely, and in pain," Madoka continued, "that what happened to your family hurt you dearly, but I can't let you take your unhappiness out on other people anymore."

"What are you talking about?-!" Malia snapped, looking quite rattled. "All I am is angry! Power is all I want! I don't need anything or anyone else! M… My family deserved what they got, because they were weak! I… I don't have those other weak emotions anymore!-!"

Madoka gave her a sad, gentle smile, conveying empathy and pity. "We both know that none of that is true."

(FINAL BATTLE PHASE 2 MUSIC: _Naruto Shippūden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 _– "The Beast Set Loose")

"_Shut up!-!_" Malia screamed, her dark aura blazing to life around her, creating a hot wind that blew at the girls. "_SHUT! UP!-!_" She re-summoned her Keyblade, dark power crackling all along its length as her irises glowed yellow. "I'll _make_ you stop talking!"

"She's too deep in her anger and pain to listen to us right now" Cure Melody said.

"We'll have to knock some sense into her," Ruby added, "or… if we can't, we might have to…"

Madoka nodded, understanding what Ruby meant and saddened by the idea but realizing that she may not have any other choice. Shifting her grip on her Keyblade, she readied herself for Malia's next move.

Malia fired a wide wave of Darkness-magic bolts at the trio; Madoka cast Reflera to shield herself and Cure Melody, while Ruby launched herself over the blasts and started firing shots at Malia. The fallen _Puella Magi_ blocked the rounds with a Dark Shield, and then brought her Keyblade up to block a falling strike from Ruby's scythe. A short duel ensued, and then Malia stomped her foot and made piercing wood spikes shoot up from the ground, forcing Ruby to immediately leap away to avoid being skewered. She then formed and launched a _Mokuton: Sashiki_ wood spear at Ruby, but the red-clad girl fired her weapon up to use the recoil to push herself down to the ground and dodge the lethal projectile.

Madoka and Cure Melody moved in next, the latter channeling her power into and around her Miracle Belltier so she could use it as a melee weapon. As they rushed toward Malia, the dark magical-girl weaved a few hand-seals to focus her magic, and conjured a barrage of magically-hardened, razor-sharp leaves that flew out toward the approaching girls. Madoka responded by casting Aerora, a barrier of Wind magic deflecting the slicing projectiles from her and Hibiki, and the two of them then closed in on Malia. Cure Melody started with a kick that Malia blocked with her Rumbling Rose, and then Madoka followed a split-second later with a strike combination, the two Keyblades clashing.

Malia used a leg sweep to knock Madoka back, and then brought her Keyblade up to block a strike from Cure Melody's magic-charged weapon. She then released her left hand's grip on the blade and used it to fire a point-blank energy blast at Cure Melody's torso; the PreCure's magic-forged outfit protected her from serious harm, but she cried out as the concussion of the blast sent her tumbling back. Ruby and Madoka moved in next, Keyblade and Crescent Rose clashing against Malia's weapon, forcing her back. Malia growled, charging power into her Keyblade and releasing a pulse of directed energy with a wide swing, sending the two girls back to where Cure Melody was. Malia then formed a hand-seal, inhaled and then blew out a stream of pollen that formed into a thick cloud engulfing the trio. She launched a Fire spell from her Keyblade into the cloud, causing it to explosively combust. However, after a few seconds Cure Melody came shooting out of the flames and smoke, a few embers smoldering on parts of her outfit, and dealt a heavy magic-charged punch that sent Malia flying, skidding to a stop and groaning as she held a hand to her face, watching as the smoke & fire cleared to reveal the other two girls virtually unharmed thanks to Madoka's defensive magic and Ruby's 'Aura'.

"Stop this already, Malia!" Ruby called out. "We don't have to do this! Just settle down and we can end this without anyone else getting seriously hurt! You don't have to be like this; we can help you!"

"What the hell do you think you know, Rose?-!" Malia shouted back, calling on a large amount of magic and weaving a complex sequence of hand-seals. "All of you! Goody-goodies who have no idea of what it's like! I've been doing just fine on my own for years, and I've got no reason to start accepting pity now! I'll show you all my full power! _Mokuton: Jukai Kōtan!_"

With the final seal and a pulse of power that the three heroines all but felt in the air, a multitude of large, thick root-like tendrils of wood burst from the ground, small clumps of greenery randomly sprouting from spots along the conjured wood as it rapidly surged toward the girls, tearing up the ground as it approached. The trio sprang into motion, jumping and dodging to avoid being crushed or impaled, with Madoka's Keyblade and Ruby's scythe being put to use to cut away what couldn't be dodged. The technique soon cut off, leaving a field of thick tendrils of wood sporadically covered in clumps of leaves or large foot-wide flowers in hot pink or dark purple.

"Razor Leaves! Flower Shuriken!"

At Malia's command, the leaves covering parts of the wood broke off and shot toward Madoka, Ruby, and Cure Melody, magically hardened and sharpened. At the same time, some of the large flowers broke off as well, and flew at the girls while spinning rapidly, the edges of their petals rendered hard and sharp by magic just like the leaves. Madoka cast Reflect to block a barrage of razor leaves, while Ruby and Cure Melody dodged the leaves and shuriken-flowers (one of them each) aimed at them. However, while the dodged razor-leaves kept going harmlessly, the slicing shuriken-flowers turned around mid-flight and came at their targets again. Ruby quickly fired a precision shot from Crescent Rose that took out the hot-pink one coming toward her, while Hibiki threw herself to the side and winced as the dark-purple one cut a shallow wound across her side, and Madoka blasted it with a Fira spell before it could come back around again.

Malia leapt into close range again, and Madoka raised her Keyblade up to block a falling strike from the fallen _Puella Magi_'s Rumbling Rose. As the two flew into another duel, both of them conjured Light- and Darkness-type _Sagitta Magica_, respectively, and fired them at each other at close range, only for each other's magic arrows to cancel out each other's barrages, their blade duel continuing uninterrupted. Madoka cried out as Malia's Keyblade slashed across her, her magical-girl outfit converting it to magical damage. She fought through the pain, and kicked Malia in the shin, making her stumble, and then followed that with a rising knee to the chin that rocked her head upward. Ruby moved in next with a powerful kick to Malia's midsection, and finally Cure Melody fired a point-blank blast of bright-pink magic that sent Malia hurtling back a good distance.

(PHASE 2 MUSIC END)

After a few seconds, Malia got back up on her feet, and she cried out in fury as she loosed another Dark Pulse, ejecting Ruby and Cure Melody from the Dark Barrier. She panted, hunched over slightly in a primal stance, as her golden eyes glared at Madoka.

"It's just you and me now, Kaname Madoka" she said. "This will be the end. Only one of us leaves this barrier alive."

"Malia…" Madoka spoke softly. "It doesn't have to end this way. Please… Let go of your anger and darkness, and let us – let _me – _help you move on from the loneliness and pain of your past. Don't shut us out; let yourself be my comrade…"

"…It's too late for all that" Malia replied with her head hung low, actually sounding a bit sad. "I've done too much; I'm too steeped in darkness. Hell, my Heartless half even killed one of your precious friends."

"Your Heartless wasn't the same person as the current you. That is abundantly clear."

"…Maybe, in another life, if things hadn't happened to me like they did, it could've gone differently; maybe I could have called you a friend. But here, and now, the Light is no longer an option for me. I can't go back from the Dark path I've gone down for so long. Seeking power in Darkness and solitude is all that's left for me." She raised her head, her gold irises glaring at Madoka. "Let's finish this, Kaname. This barrier won't go down until either you die… or I do. Now ready your blade, and let this be… our final battle!"

(FINAL BATTLE FINAL PHASE MUSIC: _Naruto Shippūden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 _– "White-Hot Battle at the Summit")

The two girls took stances with their Keyblades, staring each other down for a few seconds. Then, they lunged toward each other, meeting blades. The clanging of metal against metal rang out, as the two struck at each other over and over in a flurry of motion, blocking and parrying each other's strikes; a swing aimed at Malia's shoulder was blocked, and then a thrust aimed at Madoka's kneecap was jumped over, followed by a punch aimed for the stomach being twisted out of the way of, and so on & so forth. Madoka summoned the boot-mounted blades she'd used against Vanitas back on her Earth, adding some ballet-like movements and kicks to her offense. Now trying to dodge or block three different sources of blade attack, Malia had to give a little ground, tightening her grip so Madoka didn't kick the Keyblade out of her hands.

Malia jumped back, dodging a slicing kick aimed at her midsection, formed a few small flower-shuriken in her hand, and with a wide swing of her arm she threw them at Madoka. The pink-haired girl deflected them with her Keyblade, and was caught off-guard as a conjured vine coiled around her ankle. Malia yanked her upward with the vine, swinging her back & forth a couple times before slamming her into the ground. Madoka groaned, dispelling her boot-blades, and then gasped and rolled to the side to dodge the falling stab that had been aimed at her head. She lashed out with a kick, but Malia pushed herself upward, briefly balancing on her hands atop her Keyblade which was still partially embedded in the ground. She pushed herself up & off, landing on her feet a few meters away, and held out her hand, recalling her Keyblade to her in a flash of light.

Malia then exhaled another stream of explosive pollen, engulfing Madoka, but before she could detonate it a gust of wind from within blew the pollen away, revealing Madoka and two Shadow Clones. The three charged at Malia, each wielding a Keyblade. Malia cursed as she had to fend off attacks from two Madokas at the same time, but after several seconds she managed to make a spear of wood shoot up from the ground, impaling one of the Madokas who then vanished in a burst of smoke. The other Shadow Clone then struck Malia from behind, slashing her Clone-Keyblade across the fallen _Puella Magi_'s back. Malia growled and, with a single motion, spun to face and fired a _Mokuton: Sashiki_ at the false Madoka, destroying it. The real Madoka then took the opportunity to land a heavy punch charged with Light magic; Malia rolled with the blow and hit Madoka with a Darkness-charged kick, which she also fought through, the two girls entering another exchange of blade-strikes.

Unnoticed by Malia, a third Shadow Clone had been formed while Madoka had been obscured. She had taken a chakra-powered leap backwards out of the pollen cloud while Madoka and the other two had Malia rushed forwards at Malia, and now she stood far in the back of the battlefield, mind cleared and hands held high as she called upon the natural energy of this world, performing the basic variant of the technique Goku had taught her during a training session not too long ago. As the Shadow Clone gathered energy, the original Madoka continued fighting further ahead, keeping Malia on her toes. The two girls aimed & fired attacks at each other's faces, and simultaneously moved their heads to the side to dodge a spearing vine and a concussive shot of Wind magic, and then went right back into their duel. Malia landed a right cross to Madoka's face, and Madoka immediately then hit Malia in the chin with an uppercut. Madoka swung her Keyblade horizontally, and Malia bent over backwards to dodge it, and then tried a rising spring kick that Madoka jumped back to dodge.

Madoka briefly shifted her attention behind her, sensing that her Shadow Clone had completed its task, and then she pointed her Keyblade at Malia and fired a single bright pink magic arrow-bolt from the tip. Malia cried out as her magic barrier turned what would've been a piercing strike into a blunt-force one, pushing her back a few feet, holding a hand to her stomach which would certainly bruise even with her magic protecting her. When she raised her head again, however, she saw that Madoka had flash-stepped back, over to her Shadow Clone, and her eyes widened as she saw that the SC was holding: a small Spirit Bomb, about the size of a beach ball. As it dispelled, the SC passed the Spirit Bomb to Madoka, who held it at the tip of her Keyblade. She grunted and focused her power, and over the course of a few seconds the energy was absorbed into her weapon.

Madoka turned back to face Malia, holding her Keyblade which now glowed with a bluish-white light. She rushed forward at Malia, who panicked and started throwing out razor leaves and wood spears, only for Madoka to either Shield against them or swat them away with her weapon. As she drew close, Malia tried to block, but Madoka's strike knocked the Rumbling Rose out of Malia's hands, spinning through the air a good distance. Madoka braced her feet, and gave a wide, mighty swing, crashing against the desperate final Dark Shield that Malia conjured. Energy crackled and surged, light and wind swirling around and out, as Madoka pushed against the shield, and Malia poured all she had into maintaining it. As she looked at Madoka, Malia swore she could see the faint spectral image of Miyako behind and partially overlapping her, the ice-user girl's hands gripping the Keyblade's hilt along with Madoka's own.

(MUSIC END)

Madoka cried out, the Dark Shield beginning to crack, and with one last heave the barrier shattered. The 'Spirit Blade' cut clean across and through Malia's torso, an explosion of power and a crescent arc of bluish-white energy racing out behind her, matching the arc of the blade's swing. Malia, her eyes and mouth wide, slowly toppled backward, a glowing white cut going clear across her torso. She hit the rocky ground with a thud, landing splayed out on her back. After a few seconds, assailed by the magic of the Keyblade's Light supercharged by the Spirit Bomb, her body began to slowly come apart into motes of light, spreading in both directions from where she'd been cut through. Madoka knelt down beside her.

"I'm sorry it ends this way…" the pink-haired girl murmured. "You wouldn't listen to me. You gave me no other choice…"

"Y-You…" Malia spoke, her voice ragged and weak. "You really did mean it, didn't you? All… the things you've been saying to me…"

"Of course…" Madoka whispered, nodding.

Malia smiled – not an evil smirk or grin, but a little one that was calm and accepting, devoid of any malice. "To extend offers of sympathy and friendship to someone like me… you really are something. Especially since… I don't really deserve it…"

"Sympathy, friendship, forgiveness… Those aren't things you 'deserve' or 'earn'. They're given; all you have to do is take them when they're offered, Malia. …There's nothing wrong with accepting sympathy and help when it comes to dealing with a painful past."

"And you just showed me, the hard way, how having things like compassion and kindness don't necessarily make you weak; hell, they're probably why… you're so strong…" She closed her eyes and sighed. "I wish… I hadn't been so stubborn…"

"And I wish I could've saved you from your darkness and pain," Madoka replied, "that I could have helped you…"

"That was my bad… You tried your best; I just couldn't accept… that I was wrong… that to have power was not to be strong, that shutting myself out from others was actually hindering me, and that…" Her voice hitched, trying to hold back tears, "that what happened to my mom and dad… I'm _not_ over it. I loved them. It hurt me… more than I would admit…"

Kneeling beside Malia, Madoka carefully picked up and held her; the disintegration into Light had already reached halfway down her legs on her lower half, and was progressing more slowly, currently just below her chest, on her upper half. Malia opened her eyes, looking up at Madoka, and her irises were no longer the corrupted gold of Darkness, but a normal brown.

"I really have… been such a fool… Only now, in my last minutes, can I finally see and accept that, how badly I've messed up. Sorry… Madoka…."

As the disappearing into Light reached halfway up her chest, Malia slowly lifted her hand. Madoka held her own hand out, reaching to grasp it, and then in a flash of light the Rumbling Rose Keyblade appeared the instant before contact, so that now both girls' hands were upon it. Madoka gasped softly as she felt Malia use the last of her magical power to affect her Keyblade, and it dispelled, its motes of Light fading into Madoka's body, as her arm began to fade away immediately after. After a few seconds of shock, Madoka nodded, a smile on her face.

"Even after all you and your component Halves did…" she said. "Even if it's only for this last moment… I'm happy to call you a new friend, Malia."

The dying girl gasped softly, and her eyes watered and a tiny, touched smile formed.

"Thanks…" she whispered. "It's funny; for the first time in so long… my heart feels… _warm_…"

She closed her eyes, a few light tears falling and a content smile on her face as she relaxed in Madoka's arms, resting her head against the pink-haired girl's chest. And then, seconds later, she was gone, sparkling motes of light dissipating, swirling around Madoka briefly and then fading away.

Madoka knelt there for a few moments longer, before slowly getting to her feet. She heard the footsteps of the others approaching, the Dark Barrier having faded away as well. Mami placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded, the latter gesture repeated by a few of the others.

"Come on" Madoka spoke softly. "Let's head home."

As the group began making their way up out of the quarry, Madoka looked to the sky.

'Miyako… Malia… Both of you… Rest in peace…'

**-**_**CHAPTER END**_**-**

COMING UP NEXT: A 'bonus' chapter that will show a few mostly-unconnected events that will take place in the time period between the end of this chapter and the start of the next Book.


	9. 3 Misc Time-Skip Events

This chapter will just cover a few scenes taking place in the time-skip between the end of last chapter and the start of Book 27. After this, I'm going to take a little break, to be explained in this chapter's end notes.

**PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS**

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

**-**_**CHAPTER START**_**-**

**Realm MTD – Planet Phaaze**

**32 Days After Malia Abaddia's Death**

With one last Phazon Missile hit to the weak point on its rear underside, the corrupted Aurora Unit seized and wobbled unsteadily in the air, before crashing to the floor of the arena, landing on its top with its 'legs' curled up like a dead bug's. Two armored figures stood, weapons still readied; Samus Aran's body glowed with a blue aura that also shone out from her suit, the result of the Phazon Seed corruption being kept at bay by her Chozo gene-splicing and her raw willpower, while Madoka Kaname – who'd joined Samus after Dark Samus started fielding 'Phazon Familiars' at Elysium – was in full-body Keyblade Armor, the powerful protective enchantments protecting her from Phazon radiation even here at the source of the living contagion, wielding her original Keyblade along with the Rumbling Rose that Malia had transferred to her in her final moments.

The fallen Aurora Unit seized, a bluish glow shining out from it, and it began to collapse in on itself, before then imploding into nothingness with a flash of blue. Dark Samus was revealed from within, staggering and 'groaning' as she tried to hold herself together. But then, the Phazon-corrupted Grief Seed she'd absorbed a few months ago glowed a sickly bluish-purple from within her chest. Dark power flowed out, ethereal tendrils of Darkness enveloping Dark Samus. There was a pulse of 'dark light' and a shockwave of air as the transformation completed, making Samus and Madoka stumble back briefly.

Now, Dark Samus' armor had bits of purple and black to it, looking a little bit bulkier in places, with arcane runes written in the Witches' peculiar language here & there. Her left hand was tipped with wicked-looking black claws, her arm cannon glowed with red light, and her T-shaped visor/face had a purplish hue as opposed to a blue one. She hunched over, crossing her arms over her chest, and the armor along her back burst open in a few places, allowing two more arms tipped with lethal claws to appear below her normal ones, followed by two glowing tendrils, each one five feet long and tipped with Red-Phazon blades.

(BOSS MUSIC: _Metroid Prime 1_ – "Essence of Metroid Prime Battle")

Dark Samus' distorted laughter rang out, and as the two heroines looked at her they saw the spectral superimposed image of the entity called Metroid Prime that Samus had slain back on Tallon IV, and Samus remembered that battle's end and finally understood the nature of her dark doppelganger. She looked to Madoka, and the two armored warriors nodded to each other. Dark Samus gathered her power, and then charged, wreathed in Darkness and Phazon, streaking like a comet toward the two heroines. The duo leapt to either side, as a powerful shockwave of irradiated Dark power erupted where they'd just been standing.

Dark Samus brought her cannon to bear and fired a Red Phazon Missile at Samus, who rolled to dodge it and even then was sent tumbling by the concussion of the blast. DS then rushed towards Madoka, forcing the girl to act fast to dodge and block the flurry of blows from the two Red-Phazon blades and three clawed hands. After several harrowing seconds, she managed to leap back just as a charged Phazon Beam shot from Samus hit Dark Samus in the back, making the abomination stumble forward, letting out an inhuman growl. Madoka then hit her with a Strike Raid, and DS responded by firing a continuous slicing beam of concentrated Phazon energy that she rapidly swept across the battlefield, forcing Madoka to jump and Samus to go Morph-Ball and roll.

Madoka fired a barrage of Light-type _Sagitta Magica_, and though most of them crashed into a Darkness-laced Phazon barrier that Dark Samus conjured, a few got through and struck their target. Dark Samus then made a huge leap, landing right in front of Samus and firing a shotgun-blast of Phazon particles from her cannon. Samus twisted to the side, feeling her armor and shields take the few 'pellets' she couldn't dodge, and returned fire with a Phazon Missile that nailed Dark Samus in the face, knocking her back. The humanoid creature growled and then lunged forward, thrusting her Red-Phazon blades at Samus. A Reflega spell sprang up and blocked the hits, and Madoka then leapt in and slashed Dark Samus hard across the back with Rumbling Rose, following up with a combo of a few more blows and finishing with a focused blast of Wind magic that blew Dark Samus most of the way across the arena.

Two Red Phazon Missiles were fired towards the heroine pair, and Samus intercepted the one heading for her with a well-placed Phazon Missile of her own while Madoka set hers off with a slicing wave of Wind. Dark Samus then flashed blue as she and three doppelgangers then spread out from where she'd been, all of them zipping around and firing shots at Samus & Madoka. Samus fired a charged shot at one, only to hit one of the duplicates, destroying it but failing to discern the original. She winced as a few rapid-fired shots from another one hit her from the side, eating at her shields. Focusing on the dark-armored foe's movements, she fired a Phazon Missile into its path, destroying another duplicate. The real Dark Samus and her sole remaining duplicate both rushed at Madoka, who threw a Strike Raid and destroyed the last duplicate, but that did not stop the real Dark Samus from getting closer, cannon charging… until the thrown Keyblade came back like a boomerang instead of teleporting directly back to Madoka, nailing Dark Samus from behind and giving Madoka the chance to get out of her way. Another charged shot from Samus hit the evil being before she could recover, dealing further damage.

Dark Samus, now bearing visible injuries, let out an unearthly cry of fury. The Red-Phazon blades at the tips of the Phazon tendrils emerging from her back glowed, and the air around her wavered. She swept her arms forward, and dozens of Red-Phazon 'darts' formed in midair and flew towards Samus and Madoka in a withering barrage. Samus dodged and weaved, rapid-firing shots from her cannon to intercept some of them, while Madoka moved her two Keyblades around as fast as she could to deflect them all, feeling a few of them get through and strike her armor's shields. The barrage kept coming for several seconds, and when it stopped the duo looked up and saw Dark Samus charging a huge amount of power into her arm cannon, which was glowing with a seething blue light. She braced herself, and then fired a _massive_ beam of energy – the blue of Phazon mixed with the black of Darkness – at the two heroines. Madoka barely flash-stepped to the side in time, the proximity making her shields flare and be almost totally drained, while Samus Boost-Balled the other way.

Dark Samus stood hunched over, having expended quite a bit of energy with her last big attack. To one side, Samus straightened up and rapid-fired a trio of Phazon Missiles, one hitting Dark Samus before she then blasted the other two mid-flight. DS then turned and backhanded away a Fire spell from Madoka, but was then hit by a Blizzara spell that – due to her nature as, essentially, a hyper-evolved Metroid – did more damage than she expected, especially as it was laced with Light magic. Madoka then threw her Keyblade in another Strike Raid, but Dark Samus jumped to the side, dodging the attack, and fired a Phazon Missile that hit Madoka dead-center, knocking her back.

However, Dark Samus then heard pounding footsteps approaching, and turned around just in time to see Samus, who had caught Madoka's thrown Keyblade, mere feet from her. The evil entity did not have time to react as Samus flashed past her, slashing the Keyblade across and through her, cutting right through the Corrupted Grief Seed and the being's 'core' inside. Samus took a pose on the other side, and the Keyblade automatically teleported itself back to its owner just as a flash and explosion of Light and magic engulfed Dark Samus. The creature cried out, blue light leaking out from the gaps and holes in her armor, as she twitched and seized. She tried to raise her gun to point at Samus one last time, but then with a shockwave she exploded, thousands of tiny Phazon particles which rapidly faded away into Nothingness. A lone Grief Seed dropped to the floor of the arena, and then came apart in a puff of black smoke.

As Madoka got back on her feet, checking to ensure her armor wasn't breached (it wasn't), Samus' body seized and flashed with blue light. The Phazon Seed infecting her, deep inside her body, abruptly imploded, and in an instant all the Phazon contaminating her body ceased to exist. Panting, and a bit unsteady on her feet, she then felt as the ground started shaking. The two of them looked around, noticing that the cavern they were in was collapsing… and, according to Samus's suit VI, the entire planet was following suit. By destroying the entity that had linked herself to and partially become the source/heart of all Phazon, they had set in motion a chain reaction that would destroy all of the substance across the entire galaxy. And considering that they were currently standing on a planet _made of_ said substance…

"I… think it's time we leave" Samus said. "Like, _now_."

"No argument here" Madoka replied.

-_Break_-

The Galactic Federation assault fleet – rather, the 62% of it that had survived the battle – emerged on the other side of the wormhole just as it collapsed behind them. Aboard the flagship GFS _Olympus_, Fleet-Admiral Dane stood at the command podium, overlooking the damaged and scarred survivors of his fleet, and listening to the progress reports from his XO.

"What about Samus?" he asked.

"…Negative, sir. No contact…"

The old man sighed, looking out at the stars. But then, two small vessels performed a fly-by right past the forward viewscreen: the 'Keyblade Glider' used by that odd young girl, and the unmistakable profile of Samus' gunship. As they passed, a single typed message was sent from Samus' ship: "Mission Complete". Dane saluted the heroine as she and her little friend flew off into the stars.

"So…" Madoka spoke to Samus over radio. "Seeing as you lost a lot of your arm-cannon modes after Norion, maybe we can use the data from Marie's Device to recreate and reinstall them for you."

"That'd be nice" Samus replied. "Looking forward to having the Light and Ice Beams again… Lead the way, kid."

A portal was opened from the Keyblade Glider, which flew into and through it, the orange gunship following.

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Realm ME-N7**

**16 Days After Destruction of Planet Phaaze**

Commander Jason Shepard stood in the atrium deep within the _Starshot_, looking at the various people gathered here; for the past couple months he'd been knee-deep in work on Earth helping the Sol System try to get ready for what was coming (and keeping his head down so the Batarian Hegemony wasn't tempted to try anything), with the _Normandy II_ likewise 'grounded' undergoing upgrades and retrofits to bring it up to Alliance specs & regs, but people had insisted he be present in person for the momentous occasion of today. Multiple vessels of various make & model were clustered in the space around the Forerunner-built vessel, some big names present here either in person or via hologram.

Many people, Shepard among them, had worked long and hard for this day. There had been a few hiccups, apprehension and nervousness, worries and old prejudices to work through, but finally they'd done it. Shepard had, once again, helped to achieve what the people of the galaxy had deemed utterly impossible, though he'd had _plenty_ of help. Now, he watched as the delegates from the two groups approached each other, meeting in the middle. The two spokespersons came forward, and shook each other's hands.

"Our people and yours have waited far too long for this day" Admiral Zaal'Koris said. "With all the revelations you gave Shepard, and through him us, and all the work we've done… I was still afraid this day would never come. But now… It's been far too long; at long last, three centuries of conflict is over. I'm just thankful we had the good fortune to make it this far."

"As are we, Admiral Koris" Legion replied, the half-dozen Geth platforms standing in formation behind it nodding in agreement. "The scars from the Morning War have yet to fully heal, but we concur that this is a significant step towards that point. …It is fortunate that we and the Creators have forged this peace _before_ the Old Machines' arrival."

"Yes, the Reapers will be hard enough to handle _without_ additional conflicts."

"It's still hard to believe this is really happening…" Tali spoke up. "Peace between my people… and the Geth… Half a year ago, I thought the Geth were murderous rogue machines out to serve the Reapers and wipe us out. But meeting you, Legion, finding out the true nature of the Geth's beliefs and culture, of the 'Morning War'… I've learned so much since the Collector Incident; it feels like so much more time has passed than it really has…"

"We have long awaited the day when we and the Creators could finally cease hostilities. It would not have been possible without Shepard-Commander, Creator-Admiral Zaal'Koris… and you, Creator-Tali'Zorah. We are in your gratitude for helping bring this development about."

There was a very quiet "Hmph" from amongst the Quarians behind Zaal and Tali.

"All the same…" Zaal whispered to Tali and Legion. "We may have peace between the majorities of our people, but… I think we'll need to keep a close eye on Gerrel and Xen. They don't seem very happy about this whole thing…"

"They wouldn't dare try anything with the Reapers looming on the horizon… right?" Tali replied.

"Let us hope not" Legion replied. "But we will deal with any future developments when they happen; as Pilot-Moreau has said regarding the issue, we will 'cross that bridge when we come to it'. For now, however… Welcome home, Creators."

A large holoscreen popped up on a nearby wall, showing a view from space of the planet below: Rannoch. Several of the Quarians found themselves growing misty-eyed as they gazed upon their 300-years-lost homeworld.

"We did it…" Tali said as she heard Shepard come up beside her. "I can't believe it's really happening, but we _did it_, Jason. We brought an end to a 300-year conflict."

"Let's hope it stays that way" Shepard replied. "I don't completely trust Daro'Xen not to try anything further down the line, or Han'Gerrel for that matter; hopefully Zaal'Koris and Shala'Raan can keep them in line. But… for now, let's savor the moment."

"…Speaking of 'savoring the moment'…" Tali said to him. "You still have about six hours before you have to head back to Earth for a couple more months, right?"

Shepard smiled. "Indeed I do, 'Miss vas-Normandy'."

**-**_**SCENE BREAK**_**-**

**Unknown Location**

**One Week After Quarian-Geth Peace**

A lone figure clad in red and black armor strode across the dusty ground, her helmet dispelled to let her long black hair flow free and reveal a face that looked very human (especially since, unbeknownst to her, her 'species' was actually a sub-species of the _Homo sapiens_ she hated so much, but that's for another time). Physically she was slightly more 'girl' than 'woman', her physical age frozen at 16, and only around 5'4" tall, but her intimidating aura, piercing red-irised glare, and fearsome-looking armor and staff made up for it. Eve T'Lesh, former servant of The Fallen and sworn enemy of humanity, sighed; this empty planet was the fourth Forerunner ruin site she'd investigated in the past month, but she'd still found no hints as to where the Didact might be located. She knew the Forerunner "war-criminal" was alive and imprisoned somewhere, but she had no idea _where_.

Suddenly, Eve heard soft footsteps to the side and behind her, and tensed up, readying her staff and turning to face the newcomer. The black-cloaked figure was around half a foot taller than her, and the loose robe/cloak could not quite hide the faint outline of breasts of considerable size within. The figure chuckled softly with a young woman's voice, and then pulled her hood back to reveal a human with long black hair and gold eyes, along with a cold smirk. Eve frowned.

"Human…" she growled.

"Partially" the other girl replied.

"How so? Are you a halfling?"

The taller girl's smirk widened. "I am the Darkness of a human girl's Heart – her soul –, extracted and made manifest as a separate being of pure Darkness. My name is Ruin, the Darkness of Fate Testarossa's Heart separated and made flesh, and a subordinate of the great Dark Keyblade Master, Xehanort."

Eve felt a hint of shock. She'd long since 'realized' that humans were vile beings with great Darkness in their hearts, but to actually see and meet that darkness personified…

"Why are you here?" Eve asked in a low tone as she readied her staff.

"There's been some talk going around about you, Lucavi; the girl who accepted Megatronus Prime's power in order to wipe out humanity in revenge for what the Sol Confederacy did to you. In particular, I've heard about your power, including rumors that you've been training, have become stronger since your fight against the _Shinsō_ on the _Puellae Magi_'s Earth. The things I've heard have interested me. I want…" she summoned her two Dark Keyblades "to test your ability, and see if you live up to the hype."

Eve jumped back and took a defensive stance, the core at the tip of her staff flickering as she began channeling power into it. This young woman – this personification of human Darkness – had sought her out for _fun_, more or less. She felt a bit slighted at that, and she glared as Ruin took a combat stance, that damnable smirk not leaving her face.

"Come on, T'Lesh" Ruin said. "Let's have a little fun, and shed a little blood…"

In the next instant, Eve had to react very quickly, barely bringing her staff up in time to block a downward swing of Ruin's two Dark Keyblades, the older girl's smirk now a teeth-showing grin that looked a bit bloodthirsty, her gold eyes faintly glowing. Eve's eyes flashed red as she countered with a pulse of psionic force that blasted Ruin back, the taller girl back-flipping and landing on her feet. The fallen Lucavi then conjured and fired two blasts of crimson energy, only for Ruin to dodge one and – with some difficulty – bat the other aside with her dark weapons. Ruin fired a barrage of Lightning-type _Sagitta Magica_, which Eve deflected by rapidly telekinetically spinning her staff in front of herself.

The head of Eve's staff then shifted form, the outer red-lined black parts splitting and shifting and shortening, while the red crystal core sank inwards down into the staff's body, seeming to change shape as it did. From the shortened and transformed head of the staff, a crimson blade of energy sprang forth, emitting a soft hum. Then, the other end of the staff started splitting and shifting, the strange and primal-enchanted metal moving in ways conventional metal could not, some pieces coming into or out of existence as the weapon shortened and shifted. There was soon an opening at the base of this other end, from which sprang another red energy blade just like the other one. Eve twirled her staff, which had essentially transformed into a double-bladed lightsaber, the hum of the two red energy blades cutting through the air sounding out.

Ruin grinned and then rushed forward, her Dark Keyblades crackling with dark-lightning magic power as she swung and thrusted them Eve, who sidestepped the strikes or blocked them with her saber-staff, also lashing out with her own energy-blade strikes that were likewise dodged or blocked by Ruin. Ruin braced herself to withstand a close-range psionic push from Eve, her feet leaving a trail on the ground where they'd been anchored by magic. She threw a Strike Raid, hitting Eve and making her stagger back, but then the fallen Lucavi snarled and thrusted her hand forward, unleashing a blast/stream of lightning from her fingertips that hit Ruin, making her cry out in surprised pain, her muscles twitching uncontrollably for a few seconds before she managed to use her own lightning-manipulation ability to nullify the effect and regain control of herself. After a few seconds, she chuckled.

"Well, so far I am not disappointed" she remarked. "Yet."

She then rushed Eve again, the two locking blades once more. Now Ruin was a bit more aggressive, turning up the heat and forcing Eve back a little, striking harder and giving the Lucavi warrior less time and space to move her blade-staff for anything besides defense. Deciding to rectify that, she gripped both hands around the center of the staff, and right when Ruin swung one Keyblade at that part Eve twisted her hands in opposite directions. There was a click, and Ruin then pulled the two halves of the staff apart, letting Ruin's attack momentum carry the swing downward into the ground, throwing Ruin off-balance. Now having converted her single double-bladed weapon into two single-blade ones, Eve went on the offensive, beginning to match Ruin and even push her back a little, two pairs of blade weapons clashing in displays of strength, speed, and skill.

Ruin let out a quick laugh, openly enjoying the battle, the _challenge_, having to put her all skill-wise into matching this girl. Eve was focusing intently, letting the mystical power-source she wielded guide her movements, thrusting and parrying and blocking. Ruin ducked beneath a horizontal swing, and then giggled as she quickly leaned in and planted a split-second kiss on Eve's lips, just to throw her off with something unexpected; Eve immediately gasped in shock, freezing up for but a moment, and Ruin took the opportunity to land a powerful kick that sent Eve tumbling several meters. Snarling at the audacity of this _human_ (and blushing a little), Eve cried out in fury as she fired a torrent of psionic lightning. Ruin brought her Dark Keyblades up, and strained as she tried to hold back the assault. After several seconds, the lightning cut off, and Eve immediately charged in its wake, unleashing a furious assault that surprised Ruin with how hard it was to withstand. But she soon regained her composure and resumed giving as good as she got.

After another minute or so of sword-fighting, the two leapt back from each other, gathering their respective energies. Ruin fired off a Photon Lancer barrage, while Eve conjured and launched multiple small red arrowhead-shaped energy blasts, the two barrages intercepting and cancelling each other. The two girls fired more attacks at each other as they darted around the landscape, occasionally closing in to duel some more. Through it all, Eve very gradually came to feel something, and it took her a while to realize what it was: she was enjoying this. She was finding this fight fun on some level. And from the looks of it, so was Ruin.

Many minutes passed as Ruin and Eve continued their battle, blades being crossed and attacks being exchanged, with neither of them getting the upper hand. Eventually, the both of them were tired, bearing various small wounds. Deciding it was time to bring this to a close, the two of them jumped back from each other, getting distance, and then started charging up for one last hurrah. Ruin held her two Dark Keyblades out in front of her, black lightning crackling between them as she began charging up a Plasma Zanbar Breaker. Across the 'field', she looked in surprise as Eve had returned her weapon(s) to the default staff form, which she was holding with the head pointed at her, and motes of red light rapidly converging into a growing sphere of bright red magical energy. Ruin was surprised; through what had to be a coincidence, Eve's finishing attack was the exact same type of offensive spell as the Starlight Breaker. Hell, it might actually _be_ an SB, despite Eve having never even met Nanoha or Teana, the two people who currently knew it.

After plenty of charging time, the two attacks fired; two huge beams of raw destructive magical energy, one red and the other black & dark-purple, raced toward each other. The two beams met in the middle, pushing against one another, neither holding the advantage for more than a few seconds. After several seconds, both attacks diminished and faded out, their casters having run out of steam. Ruin and Eve stood hunched over, panting for breath and feeling quite drained. In between gasps for air, Ruin laughed.

"That was… marvelous…" she said. "You… are somethin' else, T'Lesh. I like you. I can't wait… for us to meet again… Maybe we'll do… more than just fight… hang out afterwards, or… something… Haah… Hey, if I stumble across… any of those old… Sol Confederacy bastards… in my travels… the ones who made your life Hell personally… I'll kill 'em for ya… How's that sound? Anyway, see ya…"

Ruin opened a Dark Portal and stepped through, leaving Eve alone again. The fallen Lucavi sat on the ground, still panting for breath after exerting herself so much, as she became lost in thought.

'What the hell was all that?' she thought, reminiscing on the battle and on the words exchanged throughout. 'She's human – the Darkness of a human's heart – but… I could tell she was sincere. She respects me… and she _meant_ it when she said what she did at the end. Even though she's one of _them_… I think I'm actually looking forward to the next time we meet…'

**-**_**BOOK 26 END**_**-**

Okay, folks, that's that. Now, there is going to be a break/'hiatus' between now and the next Book. I'm going to be playing through _ME2 _and _ME3_, and also going over some older entries in the _Travels_ series to make some changes – changing a few lines, redoing Books 3 and 4 to make them look neater and change a few things, and I have decided to edit out all references to _Sailor Moon_, _Yu-Gi-Oh_, and _Digimon _characters being in the DDF from previous books; I haven't really been using them anyway. I might make a _Digimon_ Book further down the line, though; I don't know yet.

So, until I have finished those things, _Teana's Travels _is on break. Don't worry; it probably won't last longer than a month. And be sure to stay tuned, for the next Book is gonna be a big one, with all sorts of characters and factions coming together, revelations being made, fights being one and lost, and the Dimensional Defense Force facing the largest threat they've yet encountered.

Next time, in _Book 27 Invasion_: the Reapers are coming.


End file.
